The End of All Things
by forgiven4ever
Summary: Yes, it's one of those 'what if' stories, but WHAT IF Jenova and her spawns had won? And the whole AVALANCHE is dead, save Yuffie, Aeris, and Tifa? What will happen? Summary inside. R&R. Yazfie, Aeriroth, and LoTif. Dark Fic. Rated M.
1. Summary

_**The End of All Things**_

**Pairings: **Yazfie, Aeriroth, LoTif

**Rating: **Teen - Mature

**Warnings: **Graphic violence, some sexual references, abuse, and attempts of suicide

**Summary: **Jenova has won and begins her rule over Gaia with her living sons; Sephiroth, Loz, and Yazoo. In revenge for her son, Kadaj, Jenova had cast the world into eternal darkness, in memory of his death. Humans can no longer remember the feeling of the sun or her warm rays. Now a new problem arises; her race must continue and so, she must the perfect mates for her sons. At the same time, three surviving members of AVALANCHE run for their life, to hide from the cruelities of Jenova and her sons. After the death of the rest of their group, Tifa, Aeris, and Yuffie had been on the run. Little did any of them knew, was that their fates would soon cross and intertwine.

* * *

Once again, Writer's Block and an urge to put up one of me stories that I will devote on after I have finished my Kadaj and Yuffie story. Also, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH YAZFIES OUT THERE!! Time to widen my horizons. This is will be my darkest fic ever so far. I have another one in store for ya'll much later that will HAVE to be rated M(No lemons, mind you) and that one won't be out for some time. So, without further ado, let's see what would happen if Jenova and her sons won the battle.


	2. Hidden

Another fic for my lovely readers who are addicted to crack pairings. Yazfie, Aeriroth, and LoTif! This will be my most darkest fic I have written, so don't expect to feel all warm and cuddly.

Yuffie: Yazoo, she's scaring me.

Yazoo: Do you _have _to put us through this torture?

forgiven4ever: No,...but I will. -evil grin-

**_Disclaimer: Don't own; Yazoo, Yuffie, Aeris, Sephiroth, Tifa, Loz, Cloud, Vincent, Cid, Barret, Jenova, Cait Sith, Reeve, Rufus, Reno, Rude, Tseng, Elena, Kadaj, Marlene, Denzel...Okay, you got me; I'M NOT TETSUYA NOMURA! How on earth did you guess?_**

_Hidden_

The streets bustled with desperate people, deranged from hunger. Two grubby men, their drab clothing in shreds, fought as their skin was reddened by claw and bite marks over an orange in the large marketplace of Junon. While this was going on, people surrounded the two fighters, shouting and jeering at them, creating a human cage to prevent one of them running. This was how low life had become. Weaving in and out of the crowds, a young, agile woman by the age of nineteen casually slipped by the onlookers. Her body was very slim, but fitted, and her long legs made up most of her short height which were almost covered by her beige combat boots. A black ribbon tied around her forehead, and trickled past her short bob of ebony hair. Stormy eyes shone with the dim light provided by the rumbling clouds overhead, and her creamy colored skin looked bright instead of pale like the others. Her heart shaped face was stern from the hardened times. She was certainly different. Her clothing made her easy to be discovered, but it was effective. Wearing grey short shorts, a small grey hoodie, and her navy blue, flower printed shirt stopped at her middriff, showed off a flat, smooth stomach. Some people would guess her to be very young because of her small, but noticable curves, but this young woman had more surprises than her age. On her left upper arm, beheld an assortment of ribbons, all of them tied neatly and treated with respect for the dead. A tattered ribbon in the color of crimson was the closest to her shoulder, with a cyan colored ribbon below it, a black one was beneath that one, and the last one; a white one with a frayed edge. Her friends who have been in the group AVALANCHE with her for three years. Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Cloud Strife, and Barret Wallace; all of them dead by the hands of Jenova and her sons. Cloud had managed to kill Kadaj, but before he could fight on, Sephiroth had impaled him with his katana. Barret was just trying to get Tifa, Aeris, and her upon the Highwind when he was shot by Loz. Then, there was Vincent...he was turning around when she had called to him; his face full of worry when the deadly shot was fired. His crimson eyes widened with horror as he fell to the ground, and liquid the same color has his tattered cloak. She never knew who shot him, and it frustrated her so, not able to avenge her dearest friend, but she knew it either had to be Loz or that other one, the more graceful assassin.

Walking down the crowded and littered street still, her fingers slyly did the crime as she passed each individual. At first, it was a small bag that contained a mere fifteen gil, then it was two phoenix downs, a potion, an antidote, a maiden's kiss, and when she slipped her hand into the pocket of a cloaked person, her nimble fingers wrapped around a small, warm, glass ball; a materia. These powers forged from the lifestream were extremely rare and were all in the custody of Jenova and her sons. The thief bit her lip as she hesitated. Materia was very much needed for her friend, Tifa, who suffered a mortal wound from one of the fiends outside the borders of Junon and the healer and their most devout friend, Aeris, was miraclously able to tend to Tifa's wounds without using anything but a potion. The thief assumed that Tifa being alive today still, was because of this half-Cetra.

Now retracting her hand back with her newfound treasure, the young thief blew a few strands of her short ebony hair away from tickling her cheek. She could acutally see the light green glow form the materia, and her heart lifted when she identified it as a Regen materia; perfect for Tifa's conition. Her hand was now out of the cloaked man's pocket, still grasping the prize. Smirking, the young woman turned on her heel and began to walk away with a bounce to her step. What she did not know was that the man she just robbed, turned around and percieved with his piercing green eyes that bore slitted pupils, the young woman scurrying away down the dark alleyway. Strands of his shoulder length, silver hair whipped across his features. This young man of twenty let a simper etch across his lips and pulled out his silver gunblade that gleamed even in the clouded sky. After that, he pursued the thief that stole his materia. It had been six months since he killed a human and he was bored.

Down the dark alley, the thief skipped merrily, humming a tune without any lyrics, with the goods she obtained. Another hard day's work and this nineteen year old was full of joy from her findings. Because of her, she managed to find a materia that would help Tifa a lot. Laughing at the biting winds, the thief spun around, her arms outstretched. She still had no notice of the stalker who was a little more than five feet away from her.

"Fear me, Jenova!" she cried out with a girlish giggle, halting her spinning and holding her head up to the threatening skies. "The Great Ninja Thief, Yuffie Kisaragi, White Rose of Wutai, has managed to swipe from one of your own sons!"

"Who is going to return that item, Yuffie Kisaragi," stated a smooth, velvet voice, his breath tickled her left ear and blew a few strands of her hair, and Yuffie felt something cold and hard press sharply against her back. "Now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Yuffie protested as the perpetrator pushed her harshly against the brick wall, her right cheek burned as it scraped against the baked red clay. "Look, man, I'm just a starving youth with two mouths to feed!"

"You should have thought of that before you stole from me, White Rose of Wutai," retorted the velvet voice that made Yuffie flinched even though the weapon was no longer pressed against her back since the assailant sheathed his choice of weapon. "Or should I call you princess?" That name slipped past his lips smooth like icy liquid.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Yuffie grunted and began to struggle, but the young man held onto her more firmly. "Last week, I killed those two girls, and I stole the finest summon materia from the gods of Wutai."

"As you say," the predator chuckled, pressing himself closer to her, showing her that he may be lean, but he was still several inches taller than her. "I shouldn't believe everything I hear, my little princess." He then held her by her wrists with one hand and began to search her with his other hand. Her short shorts had at least seven pockets, and her small grey hoodie had five pockets.

"You have a lot of pockets for such little clothing, princess," the young man mused. Finding his materia, the young perpetrator took his time withdrawing his hand from her hip pocket, relishing the shuddering breath she let out. _Women are always vunerable in situations like this, _he scoffed mentally.

"All right, you got your damn materia, now can I go?" Yuffie demanded, resuming her struggling attempts in her stalker's grasp and gritted her teeth when she heard him chuckling by her ear. Just then, Yuffie was whipped around and she found herself looking into the unnatural green eyes, with slitted pupils. Silver hair framed his feminine features, his forelock cascaded down and swept over his left eye. Without losing his smirk, the man unsheathed his gunblade again quickly and positioned the barrel of the gunblade right under her chin.

"What's your hurry?" he inquired tauntingly, snaking his hand down her side and held her firmly by her hip to keep her from escaping. "Is my little princess late?"

"Just leave me the hell alone," Yuffie snapped, turning her face away. The young man replied by using the barrel of his gunblade to turn her head back to face him. "I just want to go home."

The man then raised the gun up and pressed the cold steel against her forehead without even blinking. "No, I don't think so, princess," he declared softly. "You see, anyone who steals from the Rulers, are condemned...under pain of death. Also, Yuffie Kisaragi, you should be dead."

"Technically, yes," she growled, narrowing her eyes at her assaulter. "Unfortunately, when you and your _siblings _shot down and searched the _Shera_, you didn't look hard enough. Honestly, I took you guys to be smarter than that. So, what? You're just gonna shoot me, right here and now?"

The hunter simpered. "I haven't killed a human in so long, I was almost content when you tried to pilfer my materia, little princess."

"Meh, I was right," Yuffie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You guys are nothing but pathetic clones with an alien as a mother."

Letting a soft growl emit from his lips, the man pressed the gun harder against her forehead. "I will not have you refer to Mother that way," he said.

Yuffie smirked. "Touchy subject? Ow..." The metal was literally digging into the bone of her skull.

"End of the line,...princess," he snarled.

"Oh, I don't think so," proclaimed another female voice.

Before the assaulter could even turn his head to respond, something made contact with his jaw. Surprised, he stumbled back, dropping the gunblade from Yuffie's cheek down to his side. As he tried to regain the upperhand, another young woman of twenty-five emerged from the shadows, wearing a pink button-down dress with a red jacket around her shoulders, brown gardening boots clad her feet, her chestnut hair was roped into a plait that swung low about her hips, emerald orbs that were raging with fury and in her slender hands beheld a metal staff. This woman cracked her staff upon the would-be assassin's head. From the force, the young man wheeled about, and lost his balance, falling to the ground with a soft thud, his gunblade made a scratching sound as it slid upon the wet concrete, fleeing from the scene, and his hood from his leather coat, fell back and long silver hair spilled over the predator's face.

Yuffie rushed up to the first woman who delivered the first blow. The twenty-four year old woman was a couple inches taller than Yuffie, with shoulder-length, dark chocolate hair, wine-colored eyes, and her curves were more noticable than Yuffie's, but she wore more clothing in the color of black, from her gloves to her converse boots.

"Tifa!" the ninja cried, embracing her ailing friend.

"You all right?" Tifa demanded, wondering if the predator did anything else other than scaring her.

"Of course!" Yuffie answered confidently, with a huff of air and a wave of her hand. "The Great Ninja Yuffie had it all taken care of."

The other woman in the pink dress let out a melodious laugh as she approached Tifa and Yuffie, cradling her staff in her hands. "Right, Yuffie," she giggled.

"Seriously, Aeris!"

"All right, you two," Tifa interjected, placing her right hand on her hip. "Let's get home. Marlene and Denzel are waiting for us."

Aeris bit her lip and raised her right hand to play with one of her tendrils of her honey chestnut curls that framed her face. It was a sure sign of her being indecisive. Glancing down at the perpetrator, Aeris shifted her weight and chewed on her lip furiously. Ever since she was a child, she could never leave anyone or anything untreated; no matter who it was. A year ago, she nearly got herself killed, because she would be the only one out in the battlefield, after everone else had fled, and she would be nursing allies and enemies alike. Both sides were taken aback as this mere slip of a flower girl from the slums cared fro the fallen soldiers, barely acknowledging the explosions going off around her.

"Aeris, you have _got_ to be kidding!" Yuffie whined, stomping her right foot and flailed her arms out as if to prove a vital point. "He's one of the bad dudes who stole your ancestors' planet and put bounties on your head, as well as ours! Remember?"

"True," Aeris agreed, nodding her head childishly. "But do we have to leave him on the street? I mean what if someone comes and mugs him or kill him?"

"One less silver head to worry about," grumbled Yuffie, folding her arms over her chest. Then her eyes brightened as an idea struck her and then bounded up to the fallen, silver haired man. "Which reminds me," she murmured, stepping over this remnant and made a quick search of his pockets until she found the Regen materia she took from him eariler. "Voíla! Here ya go, Teef!" Yuffie laughed, tossing the small glass ball to the ailing woman who caught it with ease in one hand.

"A Regen materia?" Tifa questioned, her eyebrows knitted in confusion, and then narrowed her eyes at the unconscious man. "Oh, I know who this one is," she muttered.

"It's not Sephiroth," Yuffie noted, remembering the chiseled and masculine features and raised forelocks of that character. She let out an involuntary shiver; that man always did scare her.

"We'd all be dead, or worse, if it was him," Aeris reminded them, tuffing at the black ribbon on her left arm. A pang of guilt hit Aeris when she saw Tifa's face saddened as she unconsciously raised her right hand to her left upper arm, covering the black ribbon as if to erase or hide the painful memories behind the ribbon, but the truth was still there. Cloud was dead.

"I don't think it's that dolt, Loz," Yuffie assured, shifting her weight onto her right foot as she switched gears. _Best to keep away from that subject,_ she advised herself and glanced over at Tifa who merely nodded.

"It's that other one," Tifa recalled. "Yazoo. He's infamous for using Velvet Nightmare." At the last statment, the other woman nodded off to the discarded weapon that laid a couple of feet away from them. "He's a lot like Sephiroth; unmerciful in his killings. I guess that's why a lot of people mistake him as Sephiroth. But, he's the only one to carry a Regen materia with him always."

"Wait a minute," Yuffie interrupted, holding up a hand to silence Tifa for a brief moment. "I thought Jenova and her sons resided in Wutai now, since it had the least damages. They're even residing in my old man's palace!"

Aeris' eyes widened and looked back down the alleyway. "No," she gasped. "I remember seeing something on our way down here. A hotel was closed off to the public. Guards were protecting the doors, and I saw a buggy of some sorts and two motorbikes. They must be visiting the area."

"Shit," Yuffie muttered, looking cautiously behind her.

Tifa's wine eyes now widened. "We gotta get out of here," she ordered. "Now."

"Aw, man," Yuffie complained. "Can't I strip him down? We can get some gil from the gunblade alone..."

"Yuffie, no one would buy something of theirs," Aeris explained, stepping around Yazoo's unconscious body to join the other two. "They value their own lives more than gil."

The young princess of Wutai looked down the alleyway, past Aeris, where the fight dispersed and a man was licking his lips and his shaking hands were patting down the fallen man, whose neck was broken, searching for mere gil. In disgust, Yuffie looked away and turned on her heel to retreat back to their temporary residence.

"Do they?" she questioned and the other two followed her, leaving the silver-haired remnant upon the filthy narrow street.

* * *

**(A/N) **I know, I'm cruel. Mwahaha. Now, I will update this story on the 22nd of June. So look up for it then. Flames and reviews are very much welcome, except flames will be used to burn Maroon 5 CDs. Think of Maroon 5! Also, the ones who are rude, inconsiderate, and immature, who so kindly send the flames that only insult the author or just say 'this sucks' will only receive 'God bless you' and a smiley face. Critics get a special shout out!

Yazoo: Is it me, or has she finally lost her mind?

Yuffie, playing Kingdom Hearts: EW! I'm wearing ORANGE?? What idiot thought that up? It's an eyesore! -.-

Yazoo: -sigh- I am surrounded by incompetent people.

God bless!


	3. Hunt

Hey, it's alive! Sorry it's taken me so long. Two things; camp and depression.

Sephiroth: What depression?

forgiven4ever: -tear, sniff- Sissy's gone to camp and I'm _lonely!!_

Aeris: Aw, we'll be your friends.

forgiven4ever: Ya'll are computer genetic fantasy. If I talk to you two, people will think I'm nuts!

Sephiroth: I wouldn't blame them.

forgiven4ever: Anyway, here's the next chapter! Shout outs to; _Kaj-Nrig, EmileeElectro, Tempi-chan, Ardwynna Morrigu, Black Sheep of Death, BlueWings92, narutofan1091 and..._

_pangpond: Maybe they're dead. We'll see. -grin- Here's the update! Thankies for reviewing!_

And to me anonymous readers;

_Cold Comp: Gosh, thankies so much! I made a update of the Yazfie wallpaper so that it's better looking. Yeah, this story was supposed to be out in September but a friend of mine begged me to put it up now. lol. Wow, thanks so much. Here's your update, Cold Comp! I hope you like it._

_Air-Energyxxx: Thankies so much for the reviews! We got another Yazfie lover, folks! I'm so glad you liked this and it's only the beginning! lol. Thanks again and thank you for your support on Remnant's Love as well!_

_xBlackCloakBlueEyesx: Yeah, I always like them too, but there's not that many of them. -pouts- Yes, Vinnie's dead...-sniff- I love that sexy Turk, lol. The question is though; is Loz __**really**__ a dolt? Hmmm...wait and see. Ah, my other fics in store...mwahahaha!! You'll find out when a certain story ends. It may be a sequel to something...or maybe something totally different. MWAHAHAHA!! Thankies again so much for the review. Here's the update!_

God bless you all! -mwah!-

* * *

_Hunt_

In the comfortable sitting room of the finest suites, two silvered-haired men, and a woman with silver tresses as well were awaiting for Yazoo's return. The two other remnants were sitting on the maroon leather couch across where their Queen and Mother adorned in the maroon leather chair, her long right leg crossed over her left knee, bobbing it in time with the ticking of the ancient clock on the mantlepiece. The Calamity of the Skies, Jenova was actually quite beautiful, in a frightening way. Like her sons, her hair was a silver curtain that flowed freely down to her breast, but she bore only one good eye which glowed a dim red color. Her other eye, mostly hidden by her long silver hair, was as blank and unseeable as a statue. A white dress fitted her form nicely and contrasted her pale blue skin and her pursed lips were a deeper shade of blue. No one dared to cross this creature, not even her sons, for her punishments were not only cruel, but were always marking in one way or another.

As time passed on in a slow and in an agonized pace, Jenova shifted her eye over to her two sons and began sizing them up without their knowledge. Her firstborn, and favorite, was Sephiroth, clad in his usual leather armor, seated before her, looking far off in the distance. His handsome face, his long silver hair, and his muscular form was perfect, even his intense and fluid form of conflict with his six-foot katana, Masamune, was exotic. Jenova had liked him and Kadaj the best, both were very much alike, though, Kadaj was more eager than Sephiroth. It was awkward, for they believed that Jenova was their mother, but it was her form of punishment and of 'love'. Nowadays, it's merely punishment, when before she did it to seduce her 'sons' to do what she wanted, but now, they were mere toys to her, but they did not know of it yet.

Now Loz was muscular as well, but because of his sensibility, Jenova rarely visited him. He was actually shy, and Jenova did not want to deal with that. After awhile of doing this, Jenova realized that they had needs as well as her. How different human males were on this planet. In her world, the females had dominion over the males for they were very much like the human females on Gaia. That was when she decided to collect women for her sons to satisfy themselves. Only Sephiroth seemed to take pleasure in the idea, but he always was with a different woman every night, and all of them, whether willing or not, were always scarred and he never used them again. Jenova was almost proud that her firstborn was a lot like her. Almost. The fact that he was in control of something angered her, but these women were meaningless humans.

But a new problem arose. Because of the years of experiments, and her presence on this toxicating planet, Jenova was slowly deteriorating, no longer immortal after five thousand years, and because of her kind, she wasn't able to reproduce. Her race upon this planet was as good as dead, except her sons were enhanced humans with her cells, able to reproduce. And most human females were able to reproduce as well, so Jenova devised a plan; to find her sons mates, perfect by breeding and appearance, for life that can bear children. They will complete a ritual and will be bounded for life. They don't have to commit to them, unless they want to, which would be odd, but they must get their mates pregnant and only them; any others who have become with child of theirs, she and the babe must be slained so that they would not impure this new world.

Suddenly, the door opened with a soft creak and the three Rulers whipped their heads to the person who had just entered. It was Yazoo wearing a scowl upon his face. Behind him, carefully treading after the remnant, was a man of thirty-two, wearing old grey trousers that were too short for him for the hem of the legs did not reach his ankles. There was no socks with the loafers he wore and they were splitting at the toe of the shoe and his soles were cracked and were peeling away from the shoe. Licking his yellow teeth, the man looked around, casually fingering his matted dark brown hair, and then straightened his hunter green jacket that hung limply upon his shoulders. His once crisp, clean, white shirt was drenched with slime, mud, and dried blood.

"So good of you to join us, Yazoo," Jenova greeted flatly, ignoring the other guest entirely, but she kept her eye upon the vagabond.

Yazoo took two long strides before kneeling before Jenova, taking her left hand to his lips and delicately kissed her fingers. "Forgive my tardiness, Mother," he apologized in a whisper. "I was mugged in the streets below."

Behind him, Sephiroth scoffed. "Only you, brother," he muttered. "Let me venture a guess, they stole your Regen materia?"

Yazoo grinded his teeth as he fluidly stood up, and turned on his heel to face Sephiroth with narrowed eyes. His expression gave Sephiroth the answer he was asking for.

"Incompetent fool," the one-winged angel proclaimed sourly. "Mother told you not to go out after recieving that poisonous bite, but no, you _had_ to go for a walk."

"I needed to think," Yazoo snapped. "The Regen materia was all I had on me and was all that I needed."

"Why could you not think here, son?" Jenova inquired sharply, though she knew the reason. Apparently, Yazoo was the one who mostly sought grim solitude, and he was quiet many times, like Sephiroth, but it was always after Jenova spent time alone with him, he either went for a walk or lock himself in his room for the rest of the day. Jenova could never understand him, and that worried her for if she did not fully understand her sons, they could try to overcome her before her natural death.

"I needed to see the sights, Mother," Yazoo answered hesitantly, his back still to her.

Jenova sighed, picking herself from her chair and sauntered over to her youngest son. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she nestled her face in the crook of his neck. "You are certain that there is nothing else you wish to tell me, Yazoo?" she questioned, blowing into his ear intentionally.

"Nothing, Mother," Yazoo confirmed, still hesitant again as if he was hiding something.

"Really now?" Jenova purred, twirling a lock of his shoulder length hair between her fingers. "Because I have a feeling you're lying to me and you know I won't tolerate it, son."

Yazoo took in an uneasy breath. She already punished him earlier for mentioning Kadaj; or was that an act of love in rememberance of Kadaj? Yazoo could never comprehend his mother's method of love and punishment. They were the same. Painful. Either way, Yazoo was sure that she would punish him tonight. "I believe some of the members of AVALANCHE survived," he at last admitted.

"What?" Jenova demanded, springing away from Yazoo. Sephiroth arose from his seat also, hardly believing what he just heard. Loz, who had remained quiet, looked up at his younger brother. "How do you mean?" she seethed. "I was under the impression that they were _all_ dead!"

"We never did find the girls," Loz confessed and immediately downcasted his eyes when everyone looked down at him.

"You shot down that flying machine, _Highwind_ or something," Jenova snapped.

"_Shera,_" Loz automatically corrected and then refrained from using his tongue when he received glares from the others.

"We found no one on the airship, Mother," Sephiroth informed her. "It was possible for them to abandoned the ship before it crashed."

"She says they hid," Yazoo noted.

"Who?" demanded Jenova.

Yazoo smirked, shifting his eyes to Sephiroth. "Yuffie Kisaragi," he answered slyly.

"_That_ _girl_?" the one-winged angel shouted, his unnatural green eyes glowered dangerously. "Annoying little ninja. Ever since that war with Wutai, she's been a nuisance." Sephiroth then smirked. "Tell me, brother, was sweet Aeris Gainsborough there as well?"

"And Tifa Lockheart," Yazoo verified with a nod.

"Now she has a vengeance towards me," Sephiroth recalled. "I _did_ kill her lover after all," he boasted with a smirk.

"So, they're all here in Junon?" Loz questioned, daring to be part of the conversation again. Yazoo's nod put an end to Loz's questions.

"Oh, those three," the grubby looking man murmured and continued to fiddle with some of the ornaments on the writing desk, even when he felt the Rulers' gazes on him, who finally remembered his presence in the room.

"Yazoo, why did you bring one of them here?" Sephiroth inquired flatly.

"He adminstered the phoenix down, and he was eager to escort me home," Yazoo retorted nonchalantly.

"I can give you the girls," the man boasted with a toothy smile, and then licked his chapped lips. "But what's in it for me?"

Yazoo rolled his eyes, and drew out Velvet Nightmare in a flash. "Your life," he snapped. "Besides, how would you know them?"

"Lovely Aeris Gainsborough cannot help but aid a few fellow men in these times of need. She takes anyone in and fixes us up. An Angel of Mercy, some call her," the man admitted freely, nervously chuckling. "The others, Tifa and Yuffie are like bouncers or something," he scoffed. "Meh, I got thrown out because I got a little too close and personal with Angel of Mercy. I'm a man, for Christ's sake! I can't help it if buttoned-down pink dresses turn me on."

"Where are they?" Sephiroth growled, fingering Masamune which was leaning gracefully against the leather couch. He wasn't interested in the man's sexual drives, the one-winged angel wanted the flower girl to feel his steel sword through her heart. After all, _she_ was the one who almost foiled Jenova's plans.

"In an old abandoned building," the man responded uneasily. "I'll take you there." Though feeling like the ratting bastard this man was, he needed the money, he needed to eat. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Besides, they threw him out for no reason, except the fact he _did_ cornered Aeris and pressed himself against her. That was enough to make the young virgin scream rape.

"Now," Yazoo stated coldly, still aiming his silver gunblade at the starving and desperate man.

"Sure, sure," the man agreed willingly, thinking of the huge bounty that was coming to him. "Follow me."

When the one-winged angel and the two remnants gathered their things and headed out after the man who was leading them, Jenova called out to Yazoo.

"Yes, Mother?"

"You and I need to talk," Jenova said to him with a simper. "Tonight."

Giving his mother a brief nod of understanding, Yazoo felt dread churning his stomach. The gunner loved his mother, even though her sense of love and hate was confusing. It made the young man wonder; what is love? What is hate? Hate; was it what he felt towards the humans or was it something else? These questions burned at the back of Yazoo's mind as he headed out the door to hunt the three that once eluded the Rulers. It was time to pay his little ninja thief a visit she would not forget.

* * *

**(A/N) **How's that? -grins cheesily- Flames and reviews are welcomed with open arms but flames will be used to barbeque our new pig, Darla.

Darla: -squeeeeeall!-

forgiven4ever: She's only one. -puppy eyes-


	4. Caught

forgiven4ever, skipping along and humming: _Hey, hey, that's freedom you hear, comin' right to your ear, that's the sound from our bus, hey, hey._

Loz: It's about time you came along! We thought you had abandoned us!

Tifa: I had to deal with _him_ for about two months!

Loz: -wink- You know you love me.

Tifa: I wanted to be with Cloud! -cries and runs off-

forgiven4ever: Aw, don't worry, Loz, she'll come around. -gives him a pack of muffin mix- Here, make some muffins and you'll feel better.

:Loz mopes and leaves(give him a hug, somebody!):

forgiven4ever: Okay, enough drama, let's get onto the fic! Shout-outs to; _BlueWings92, Tempi-chan, pangpond, narutofan1091, Black Sheep of Death, silenceinlight, _and _Yazoo IS Superior. _And of course, to me anonymous readers;

_Cold Comp: AWWIE! Thankies! Sissy was very happy. It's one of her favorite wallpapers she's made, but she's got a lot, including Aeriroth, AkuNami, RikuNami, and some other junk. You should check her out. It's shibara1310 on here and on DeviantArt. Don't worry some violence shall be in this chap. Here's your update! God bless._

_GrandFighter: Yikes, already? Ehhhh...I might change the rating after this chapter, I'll ask people on every chapter from now on if it should be rated M. So, your vote is taken into consideration and we're one step closer to this being rated M. Thankies so much. Long live CRACK PAIRINGS! God bless!_

_Air-Energyxxx: I probably shouldn't have said that...-scratches ear- We're...um,...going to slaughter her in October so she'll feed us until the new year. Yeah, we shouldn't have named her, but Older Sissy was persistant. Yikes. We won't slaughter her though, my dad couldn't do that and it will be quick, I know the man who's going to do it. I'm very happy you've enjoyed the last chapter! Yes, I made Loz likable! I was hoping to achieve that. Yay. :) Oh, yeah, Sephy's got it in for Aeris. Dark Yazfie coming up, so prepare youself. Lol. I will update Remnant's Love around September. Sorry. Here's your update though. God bless!_

* * *

_Caught_

"Marlene, come on," Tifa urged, shoving the young girl's belongings into a large, musty, grey duffle bag along with her son's clothing. "We need to go, sweetie."

It was hard to tell all of the temporary residents to leave the premises, but when they were informed the Rulers might come over, they were immediately up and about, trying to collect their clothing in a matter of seconds. However, with the kids it was more difficult for them to realize that their lives were in danger. They liked to believe that no one could ever beat Tifa, Yuffie, and Aeris. Tifa's adopted son, Denzel, liked to hope that he would one day avenge Cloud's death and overcome Sephiroth. A young teen's dark dreams that would hardly come true. Barret's daughter, Marlene, taken in by Tifa, prayed for the Rulers' downfall. More and more did that young girl began to look like Aeris, as did Denzel looked more and more like Cloud every passing day. The young teen even carried one of Cloud's swords, carrying the oversized weapon the same way Tifa's childhood friend had. Now the young teen was keeping watch, spying through the blinds of the filthy windows, and the little girl was sitting on her bed with a picture of herself and her deceased father in her lap.

"Why do we hide, Tifa?" the small, fragile girl inquired, stroking the glass of the frame where her father's face laid beneath with her fingertips. She was only four in the picture, but she would never forget her father always carrying her on his broad dark shoulder, and laughing with some of his drinking buddies about some joke they muttered drunkenly.

"Because, if we don't, bad men will kill us without as much as blinking an eye," Tifa answered with haste as she tied the duffel bag tightly close. The nylon rope zipped as it was pulled abruptly. Looking up to see her son in the room adjacent to them, Tifa saw Denzel warily monitoring the street below them. "Denzel! Come on!"

"I'm watching for them," the adolescent boy protested lazily, leaning a bit to the right to get a better view.

"Yuffie's doing that already, honey," Tifa informed him and then called to him yet again. "Denzel, come over here," she commanded. Reluctantly, the boy complied by sauntering over to his mother. The young woman handed Denzel the bag and he slung it over his shoulder. "I'm trusting you to take care of Marlene, all right?"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Denzel interjected quickly, not thinking his mother would be telling him this. "You're coming with us."

"Don't stop, Denzel," Tifa implored as tears began to form in her wine-colored eyes. "Take the ship to Costa del Sol."

"Mom?" Denzel called to her, to stop her rambling, but it was no use for it fell upon deaf ears.

Tifa stopped for only a moment to rummage for something in her drawers and pulled out a piece of paper. Turning back to her children, she shoved this paper into her son's hands, with the paper squeaking in protest from being squeezed, and held onto his hands tightly as she looked into her son's hazel eyes. "Give this to the innkeeper; he'll take care of you two," she told them.

"Tifa?" Marlene choked, her lower lip quivering. This was happening way to fast for the young girl.

"We'll join you in a week or so," Tifa promised them, but even that was not enough for her children. For them, they wanted _all_ of them to be together, not just some vague promise of a chance meeting.

"No, no, Mom!" Denzel shouted, shaking his head. "You're coming with us."

"Tifa . . . !" Yuffie's voice cried from downstairs in a tone that meant trouble was coming hard and fast. "SOLDIERs at ten 'o' clock!"

Biting her lip, the older woman pulled away from her son and dove for the window, quickly lifting up the pane. Leaning out some, Tifa spotted an old trusted friend and waved to him in the alley. "Kazu!" she hissed. "Ready?"

"I've been waiting for fifteen minutes!" complained the burly man below. "Hurry up! People are saying the Rulers will be here in five minutes or less! Get them kids out of there!"

Retreating from the window, Tifa faced her children who stood before her with sorrow written in their eyes. Slowly, Tifa stretched out her hand to them, for them to accept this uncharted path. It was difficult for Tifa to send her own children off without any hope of contacting them even if they reach to safety. A tear cascaded down her right cheek as Denzel and Marlene rushed to her, clutching at her clothing when they wrapped their arms around her torso. Kissing their heads, blessing them on this dangerous quest, Tifa unwillingly pulled away to help them through the window.

There was an old, rusty fire escape right under the window, so it was simple to get out with the duffle bag, but further toting the bag would be a nuisance, so Denzel tossed the duffle bag down below where Kazu caught it with a simple grunt emitting from his bearded lips. Motioning Marlene to wait a moment, Denzel tested the rusty ladder and nodded in approval before proceeding down into the dark alley and assisted Marlene. Never thinking he would cry ever since Cloud's death, Denzel looked up in the window above where his mother was watching them with wide eyes that were brimming with tears, and he let a single tear escape his eye and it glided to his left ear which shocked it from the sudden wetness. After taking a deep breath, Denzel acknowledged the burly man who stood beside Marlene who still clutched desperately to her picture, and the three headed out quickly to merge with the departing crowds that were frantic to get away. Before they disappeared around the corner of the other building, Marlene and Denzel locked eyes with their mother once more before they disappeared in the smog that shrouded them too quickly for Tifa. It was then that Tifa clamped her mouth with both of her hands to hold back the sobs she could barely contain.

Downstairs, Yuffie was fingering her oversized shruiken; the Conformer, huddled by the front window of the musty parlor that was used for weary travelers, whilst the healer was helping the people evict the premises, and Tifa was still upstairs, mourning over the decision of smuggling her kids to safety. It was hard for Tifa, but she could not let the Rulers know about Marlene and Denzel. The young ninja loved those kids and would kill anyone who would even think of hurting them. Squinting through the filthy window, Yuffie took calming deep breaths as she watched the uniformed men scout the streets ahead. With this many troops, the ninja thief know those silver haired men would be coming around, hunting for them.

Just then, Yuffie spotted the said silver haired remnants a couple blocks down from the building, following a homeless man wearing a hunter green jacket and was outstretching his arm, pointing at the residence where the three surviving members of AVALANCHE lived. When the sons of Jenova looked over, Yuffie cursed, jumping back from the window. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Midgar slums' flower girl, gently wrapping a warm white fleece blanket around an elderly man's hunched shoulders with loving care. Time was of the essence. They all had to get out . . . now.

Putting her hands together in a loud clapping sound, Yuffie directed commands toward the frantic people who were still gathering their precious belongings. "Let's go! Go, go, go! They're coming 'round the front! Go to the back! _The back!_" she emphasized, jumping up and throwing her arms in the direction of the back exit. "Crunch time, peoples! Go! Go! Go!"

With that outcry, more people evacuated, almost crowding the back door out of desperation. It made it more difficult for the last remaining Cetra to join Yuffie at the window with all the tenants almost dragging her to the exit. But miraculously, the twenty-five year old managed to push through the current of oncoming people, ready to receive any information from her friend. Panting in quick, shuddering breaths, Aeris stood behind Yuffie, looking over her shoulder, to perceive the horrid fate that awaited them outside.

"Damn," Yuffie swore, clenching her hand around her large weapon. "It's that rat bastard Hiichiro."

Aeris wrung her hands nervously and shyly in remembrance of the thirty-two old man. "Oh, . . . him," she murmured softly.

"I should have castrated him _and _cut his friggin' tongue out," Yuffie grunted, shifting her weight some to see if she could get a better view of the enemies just fifty yards away from their building. "I should have known he would snitch on us."

"Should we exit through the back door or through the attic?" Aeris whispered, her hands clasped tightly together and brought to her fully pink lips, unconsciously rubbing her lower lip with her right thumb as she silently prayed to her ancestors for guidance. Her answer came from the back part of the house when the two young women heard the sound of glass shattering.

"Open up!" a gruff voice, ordered harshly. "We know you're in there! The building is completely surrounded! Surrender, and you will die a quick and painless death as do the Rulers vow to honor!"

Yuffie scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Bullshit," the princess declared suddenly, and then drove her right hand into her front pocket. Smirking when she pulled her hand out, clutching onto a black circular disc made of smooth plastic and three inches in diameter, Yuffie twirled her prize in her fingers. These little discs were a present from Godo before his death. Soldiers of her country had come up with these powerful little discs, and Godo thought of his daughter and gave her two boxes of them. Yuffie still had them all, saving them all for moments like this. Quickly, Yuffie brought the little black disc to her lips and kissed the smooth, flat plastic surface.

"Don't let me down," she murmured to the device, shifting her eyes to the back of the house, breathing in deeply, calmly when the glass from the back door shattered. The sound of carved wood slamming into the plastered wall of the kitchen cracked and thudded like thunder. The heavy footfalls of the soldiers bursting in, squeaked on the tile and stomping in loudly were taken into consideration.

In a quick, scurried moment, Yuffie hurled the lamented disc and watched it dart to its destination; the kitchen, and it skidded to a stop underneath the feet of the bustling soldiers who were swarming in, loaded with Tech Nines and AK-47s. There was a split moment, but to the two women, it was eternity passing when the soldiers spotted them, raising their primary weapons to taking aim upon them. And then, there was a loud eruption, emitting white toxic smoke, devouring the soldiers into its belly of white. There were yelps of pain, while the clouds of smoke were stinging their eyes and choking the oxygen out of them as they erupted loud coughing and gasps for air from their mouths.

"Go!" Yuffie yelled to Aeris and the flower girl bolted for the stairs, just as the cloud of smoke drifted into the drawing room. Yuffie twirled her large shruiken in her right hand and armed her left with another disc, rubbing it out of the nervousness coiling in her chest. Prepared the ninja was for an assault toward her, but not toward her friend.

When Aeris began to race up the stair, a gloved hand shot out from the malevolent mists, and through the broken railing, the hand ensnared Aeris' ankle, causing her to lose her footing. Now tumbling down the stairs, Aeris flipped herself over and refrained from sliding down the rest of the wooden stairs, only to look upon the one-winged angel, towering before her at the base of the stair, his leather coat flailed about him, his chest covered only by the black straps as if to tame his malicious heart. The flower girl felt her breath come out erratically as he smirked down at her, his eyes glowing.

"Hello, my dear," he greeted in a suave tone, taking in the claimed Cetra's form, sprawled out before him. "I've missed you."

"Sephiroth," Aeris gasped, trying to regulate her breathing, but failed miserably. Her slender fingers curled about the edge of the step she was sitting upon. "What do you want?"

Broadening his smirk, Sephiroth bent down and grabbed Aeris' right boot, yanking her down until she was basically beneath him. His unnatural green eyes glimmered at the woman under him, his slitted pupils dilated, loving his enemy quiver in fear. Right now, he was the victor and she was the prisoner. Maybe she should taste the unlimited power he beheld before she meets her ultimate fate, for she was actually a pretty little thing.

"You," he hissed and with that statement, Sephiroth lunged out his right hand and enclosed his fingers around her slim throat. Unfortunately for the one winged angel, he did not acknowledge the young woman armed with a an oversized shruiken. That is, until Yuffie made him notice her.

"F--in' bastard!" Yuffie shouted, taking a step forward to give her Conformer a more dangerous and more deadly approach, and with all her strength the Conformer left her hand, guided to Jenova's Spawn's back. But, when he heard her voice, Sephiroth whipped around and one of the Conformer's sharp blades sliced through his shoulder, cutting through the supple leather, and his flawless pale shoulder. When the skin parted, and blood flowed freely, staining the skin, and the leather jacket became slick and shone with a tint of crimson, flecks of rubies were slung about from the shruiken, splattering the stairwell, and Aeris' dress and face, as it continued its blind path, until it struck a wooden step, a foot above Aeris' head. When he was struck, Sephiroth stumbled a little from the sudden force and clutched his shoulder, but another smirk graced his pale lips when he removed his hand, for the gash was gone, the skin renewed. Yuffie cursed herself inwardly, for she had forgotten that the one-winged angel was always prepared for any type of assault; physical or magical with the assortment of shields, making him invulnerable to basically everything, which was bad for the ninja thief and the flower girl who were, at this moment, in his grasp.

"As usual, princess, your aim needs improvement," Sephiroth coolly remarked, and turned back to Aeris who made a desperate attempt to pry the embedded shruiken from the mauled wooded step it had latched itself upon. "Now, now, my pet, that's impolite," he informed her with a cruel smile. Never losing his smile, he pounced upon the unsuspecting woman, snatching her right wrist and pulled her up to her feet. Before he could regain his height, Yuffie leapt upon his muscled back, pulling his long silver hair to throw his head back and then threw her right arm across his long pale neck that was now exposed to her and began to constrict him despite that he had a free hand squeezing her arm gruffly, nearly breaking her bone. Aeris tried to help her friend by smacking Sephiroth with all her might on his pale toned chest with her small fist, but it was to no avail.

"Yazoo!" Sephiroth shouted, now dragging the two women away from the only escape route. "I have your little princess." Sephiroth then flung the younger woman upon the couch, keeping the flower girl in his murderous grasp. "Shall I?" he questioned, his eyes glinting for blood, and his fingers tightening around the handle of Masamune.

"No," Yazoo spoke up curtly, sauntering into the room, his arms dangling by his sides, though the fingers of his left hand twitched in absence of his faithful sidearm that was still laying in wait in its holster that dangled from his lower back. "I'll do it," he declared, his eyes fully upon the young ninja, defenseless upon the couch. Yuffie tried her best to cower away, but it was impossible for her to inch away any further. Softly gasping in air, Yuffie clutched the fabric of the couch, her nails scratching the woven upholstery, fearing what would happen next.

Aeris was still struggling against Sephiroth, who now had her by her wrists and was chuckling in amusement at her useless struggles. Suddenly, he pressed the sharpened edge of his long katana to the underside of her jaw, smirking at her painful wincing as the steel nicked her flawless and soft skin. When she stiffened to stop any movement to avoid any more nicks, Sephiroth removed his beloved sword, sliding it smoothly in its sheath. Still smirking, he drew her suddenly too close for her liking and bent low, placing his lips over the cut on her jaw and pressed his tongue against it, loving the taste of her sweet blood. Aeris squirmed vigorously, but it was nothing to Sephiroth but annoying, so he growled as he grasped her throat tightly, and backed her against the wall, pressing his body against hers. Aeris whimpered and let out shuddering breaths of protests and pleas, but knew it was hopeless for it fell upon deaf ears.

"Get off of her, you—"

Yazoo cut Yuffie off by smacking her hard across her face, leaving a red mark upon her cheekbone. Yuffie gave no cry or a horrid and stunned look upon her cute features like Yazoo seen in others, but a sour look upon her face as she took a moment to spit out the small amount of blood that flowed freely in her mouth. Simpering, Yazoo whipped out Velvet Nightmare and aimed it at the young ninja's face. Though, when he was about to pull the hair trigger, Hiichiro came into the room, walking boldly as ever, interrupting the two Rulers. That was not a pleasant thing to do.

Sephiroth gritted his teeth, pulling away from the flower girl who breathed a sigh of relief, but then suddenly flung her across the room, and Aeris let out a gust of breath she had held in within her, smacking into the opposite wall. The one-winged angel turned to the filthy human before him who had dared to appear cocky and independent.

"What is it?" he demanded.

Hiichiro stammered a bit, twiddling with his fingers. "His lordship outside caught sight of the third girl, and he wanted me to inform my Graces, milord, that he's gone after her," he declared, and then tugged at his moldy, tattered coat. Licking his lips, he dared to inquire, but he took a bolder approach.

"My lords?" he called and flinched when they glowered at him once more. "I was wondering about my bounty?"

"Bounty?" Sephiroth repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

Hiichiro licked his lips again, only with lust and greed, as he shifted his eyes toward the woman clad in her pink dress, which flailed about her lower half, showing off her nicely shaped legs. "I'll just have one go with her, and that would be enough," he suggested, his eyes roving over the poor flower girl's frame. It would be a perfect revenge upon the woman who had driven him out of shelter. Pickings were slim around Junon and Hiichiro had been searching for so long.

Sephiroth smirked widely as he turned to his younger brother. "I suppose so," he agreed slowly, nodding to Yazoo. "Give the human his bounty, then."

Turning on his heel, Yazoo let a small smile etch his features as he grabbed the betrayer roughly by his arm and slung him around so that Hiichiro's back was to Yuffie. The gunman raised his gun and pressed the barrel against the man's right eye, who was trembling and quaking before him, gasping in shuddered breaths from the sudden betrayal. "Your reward, sir," Yazoo purred smoothly and pulled the trigger.

_Bang!_

Yuffie gasped, closing her eyes, feeling many wet, warm droplets splash upon her face. When she opened her eyes, she perceived a grim scene before her. There was smoke emitting from the hole where the bullet had passed through. It had splintered the eye, for pieces of it were crawling out of the perimeter of the hole. Dark crimson liquid and purple matter began to freely flow from the new opening, drenching the oily hair, and soaking Hiichiro's shirt. The carcass fell to the floor on its own with a sickening thud to reveal Yuffie the graceful assassin, his lips still curled in a simper, not concerned over the splashes of blood upon his face which contrasted his silver hair. Yuffie subconsciously licked her lips, tasting the warm liquid of someone's blood and brain tissue. It made her nauseous, and again she tried to back away from Yazoo who was now sauntering his way toward her with streaks of crimson upon his handsome face, making him more the unmerciful reaper he was. Yuffie's mind went blank as he towered over her, casting his shadow upon the little princess.

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**(A/N)** Le gasp! A cliffhanger? Oh, the humanity! Guess you'll have to wait awhile. -smirks wickedly- I hoped you've enjoyed this chapter and _please, please_ tell me if I should up the rating. Thank you GrandFighter for casting your vote! We have one vote for this fic being upped to M. Who else will speak up?

Loz: I'm not in this!

Tifa: I'm only in the beginning!

Loz: At least you _had_ a part.

Aeris: Well, you're not being sexually assaulted by some crazy.

Sephiroth: Who are you calling 'crazy'?

forgiven4ever: What are you two doing here? You were in the last chapter.

Sephiroth: Your _pig_ was in the ending note.

forgiven4ever: And she so enjoyed it, didn't ya, Darla?

Darla: -squee-

Reviews, votes, criticism, and flames are welcome very much, but flames will be used to burn my homework. School's back! Aren't you happy? -dodges thrown objects- What?? I had a boring summer. Oh, note; I'm going on vacation, and I have limited time on computer so that's one of the reasons I've been _really_ slow on updating me fics and pics. I just finished a drawing of Yuffie from DOC if anyone cares to see it! God bless you all, and I hope you're all having a great start in school.


	5. Escape

::Yazoo, Loz, and Sephiroth drag in a bag that's moving::

Yuffie: Did ya get her?

Yazoo: -pant, pant- Yeah, and it took us ages to find her.

Sephiroth: Let's get her out of the bag, she's kiling me here.

Loz, untying the bag: It was really hard, we snagged her at Walmart and her mom gave us hell and -peers in- Uh....I think we got the wrong kid.

Tifa: WHAT! You big lug, you!

::Young woman climbs out of bag and glares at Loz, hair cut in ultra short, and a pierced cartilage::

Young woman: It's me! You got the right kid!

Yuffie: Nah, you can't be 4ever. 4ever looked fourteen.

forgiven4ever: I cut my hair for pictures and I got my ear pierced! Also, I changed my wardrobe.

Tifa: Cool, at least you look your age.

forgiven4ever: Bite me. -turns to readers- Hey, sorry I'm late! Laundry list of problems, and blah, blah, blah. Now, feeling guilty of not posting anything, this is a back up. I had it already written when the last chap came out. I wanted to be ahead of things. Not anymore. Okay, shout outs to all my beloved readers; _Dejia, Yazoo IS Superior, BlueWings92, pangpond, Black Sheep of Death, narutofan1091, HahaEnigma, Doujinshi artist, p3paula, _and _Keblade Ninja-Nye. _And to me anonymous readers;

_mick: Wow, thankies, I thought I made Sephy a little too OOC. I apologize for my tardiness in updating, but life catches up to you one way or another. But, I get a new SWEET laptop for it. Thankies so much for your support and I hope you enjoy this chapter. God bless!_

_Cold Comp: Yes, school had started...months ago now, and it's hell on earth...well, one class is. I hate chemistry and my teacher hates me. Grrrr. Well thankies for reviewing, I apologize for taking so long, but there some Aeriroth goodness just for you, Comp, thought you might like it. Though, it's one-sided, but that might change later on, ya never know! lol. Thanks again and God bless!_

_Hinata lover: Thankies so much for reviewing! Here's your pdate, I apologize for taking so long. ^^ God bless!_

_chocoholicxinsanity: Hmmm, me too, can't get enough of gore, fluff, and a little dark stuff. -looks around- Okay, I like dark stuff, makes everything seem more challenging, if that's the right word for it. Hokay, here's your update! And have a chocolate bar on my account! -tosses Hershey bar- Thankies and God bless!_

_Arashi: Cookie...Awwie, thankies! More scary stuff on your way, and I'll be eating my cookie. -looks for it- Hey, where'd it go? -turns to see Cookie Monster eating it- Excuse me, I got a puppet to kill. Thankies and God bless!_

_InTheWind: Awwie, thankies, crack pairings are the most fun to work with. ^^ I apologize for taking eternity to update, but LIFE! -rubs temples- It's hell. But here's your update and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again and God bless!_

* * *

_~Escaped~_

Never would she forget his scent, or his face, or his eyes, or the crimson stains upon his cheekbones and upon his pale thin lips. Thinking of only this and the blood that was on her and upon the couch, Yazoo swiftly bent down over her, his hands pressed on either side of her, trapping her in this unwanted closeness, and his face was mere inches from hers. Bare was her mind, she almost forgot about Aeris who was clutching to herself in a corner as Sephiroth approached her cowering form.

Panting heavily, Aeris clutched herself, whimpering as Jenova's firstborn loomed over her. Only able to gasp her breathless protesting, Aeris was pulled up gruffly to her feet and was pressed up against the peeling wallpaper, pinned there by Sephiroth. His hot breath fanned her face, and his gloved hand was fisted under her small chin, making Aeris to look into those Mako eyes that contrasted her own emeralds, and his eyes were darkened a shade.

"I wasn't finished, pet," he crooned in a mocking tone, leaning down to the crook of her neck and sunk his perfect set of teeth into her soft skin. Aeris gave out a cry and tears streamed down her face as she struggled, choking on sobs as she tried to push him away, but he was twice her size. Sephiroth only responded by tightening his grip on her, growling deep from his throat as he continued to nip at her neck mercilessly. "I tend to keep you a little while longer," he whispered into her ear before biting her earlobe, causing her to stifle a cry.

However, Yazoo was more into seeing Yuffie suffer in a much more different way and was more determined to finish her off with his bare hands. Velvet Nightmare would be too much of a mess in a situation like this. No, his slender fingers enclosed around her long neck that was now smeared with blood would be better. Yazoo simpered at the shinobi whose eyes widened with fear and then leaned down until his cheek brushed hers; smearing more blood upon her face and his lips were grazing against her ear.

"You, Yuffie Kisaragi, are the fortunate one this time," he murmured. "Unlike your friends, you shall die in my hands right here and now. Your friends shall receive no mercy whatsoever from my brothers. As I'm sure you can tell; it will be weeks before they give them of that pleasure of killing them. They will be envying you, my little princess, before the day is out." When that was said, he pulled away; an evil smile was upon his features and Yuffie only grinded her teeth in wild fury that could only be tamed for so long.

Before her brain signals were relaying the aftermath of what she had done, Yuffie had brought up her right leg and her boot connected hard against Yazoo's chest. Not prepared for this assault, Yazoo was thrown back, stumbling a bit to regain his ground. Yuffie then jumped up and flung her last defense; that black disc that she was holding tightly in her hand. It skidded on the floor and smacked into the leg of the chair that was near Sephiroth and Aeris. Then there was an explosion and a blinding white smoke.

Unlike the last time, the one-winged angel was not expecting an encore of this attack from the ever persistent ninja and so, when he and Aeris were engulfed in this immense fog, immediately Sephiroth pulled away abruptly, coughing and clutching his head. Aeris, choking on a sob, used this to her advantage and bolted for the stairs. Even though blinded by the smoke, Aeris knew every corner of the house so well that she did not need her eyes. Yuffie followed in pursuit, only to be grabbed by none other than Yazoo and as she wheeled back to the remnant, he was greeted with a hard smack to his left eye, leaving a welt there that would soon blacken. His grip went slack and Yuffie blindly climbed the steep wooden steps, making sure of snatching up the Conformer with ease.

"Yuffie!" a concerned voice cried from the top of the stairs. In a desperate attempt, Yuffie thrust her arm forward, hoping to grasp her friend's arm. Her fingers blindly grasped another person's forearm and pushed herself forward, nearly crashing into Aeris when her bloody hand slipped.

After the two staggered to regain their balance, the two women ran for refuge down the corridor; the window with the emergency fire escape in Tifa's room. The two companions gasped and clutched each other as they stumbled to their destination. Yuffie grunted as she flung herself into the room, grasping the brass doorknob firmly until her knuckles turned white. When Aeris entered the room, Yuffie threw the door back with all her might, slamming it shut.

"Lock it, lock it, lock it," Yuffie frantically hissed to herself as her nimble fingers fumbled with the deadbolt.

Just as the deadbolt sounded a satisfying click, Yuffie let out a gush of air that she had gasped in, slumping against the for a brief moment. It was a bad move. Before Yuffie could react, there was the ear-piercing sound of a bullet ejecting from the barrel of a gun, and the splintering of wood, before the bullet itself lodged into Yuffie's flesh, just under the clavicle, but pierced through the left shoulder blade.

"_Aaargh!_" Yuffie howled in pain, letting out a hiss, and stumbled from the door, holding onto her wounded shoulder. "Dammit! Bitch! That Son of a bitch!"

"Yuffie!" Aeris cried out, reaching out to her to aid her, but Yuffie rejected it, pushing herself forward even though her shoulder throbbed in protest.

"Go! Go!" the young Wutain shouted, flinging her undamaged arm in the direction of the window just as the door rattled from the pounding it was receiving on the other side. Yuffie took a quick moment to strap the shrukien upon her back, wincing from the pressure the heavy weapon possessed; her shoulder throbbed in protest but chose to ignore it.

Aeris stumbled out upon the fire escape and then began climbing the ladder that Tifa had used earlier to make her escape, taking in shallow breaths as she climbed every step. How odd that fear can drive a person to take such risks and forget fatigue. When the flower girl reached the rooftop, Aeris quickly knelt down before the edge as Yuffie climbed out the window with sweat glistening upon her fine brow. Climbing up the rusty overused metal ladder, Yuffie heard a loud crash from the room she had just left, knowing that precious time was slipping as was the ladder. The blasted screws had extended their life for far too long and decided that on this wretched day when they were needed the most to retire and bend to nature's will. The screech was long and loud, causing the silver haired men to rush to the window. Yuffie didn't have to look below her to see her archenemies wearing their cruel smirks. In fact, she almost predicted what happened next.

There was a sudden jerk on the metal ladder; Yuffie let out a cry of pain when she wounded shoulder was jostled roughly. Hissing through clenched teeth, Yuffie glanced up and gulped before letting out labored pants at what she saw. The edge of the building was at least three feet above her; an eternity away, but she wouldn't say the same thing about the ladder. It clung desperately to the edge with one left. The whining of metal became lengthier and Yuffie dared not to move.

"Yuffie!" Aeris shouted, retrieving a small metal stick from her pocket quickly before thrusting it downward to where Yuffie was dangling. The clinking sound of metal was heard as the stick extended into Aeris' metal staff of five feet and eight inches. "Grab it!" she pleaded to her friend, stretching her body over the edge so that the staff would come beside Yuffie's head so that she would not have to strain her injured arm.

Grunting, Yuffie tried to pull herself up in a way that held the ladder's grip to the building delicately. There was another yank from below and the ladder was torn from the building. At the next split second, Yuffie used her right foot to push off the step it was on, projectiling herself upward. With her good, blood-stained hand, Yuffie managed to grasp the metal staff.

"I got you!" Aeris assured her with a pant as she pulled Yuffie up upon the roof. Yuffie clung desperately to Aeris' arms as the flower girl grasped Yuffie's upper arms tightly, the staff fell with a clink upon the concrete rooftop. With a groan of straining, Aeris pulled Yuffie over the edge and the two still clung to each other as they sat upon the concrete, careful of the shrukien, and gasping from that life or death episode. "Are you all right?" Aeris questioned softly, pulling away and looking at her friend's wounded shoulder.

"Fine," Yuffie uttered breathlessly, clutching her blood drenched shirt with her good hand.

"Here," Aeris offered as she gently placed her hand over the shoulder where blood spurted from the activity of climbing and the emotion of fear which rushed Yuffie's blood circulation. "_Leighis_," she chanted softly as a warm green glow emitted from her palm and shone brightly upon the wound. Focusing on the hole in Yuffie's shoulder, Aeris felt her energy being drained from her, slowly but surely. The young ninja could detect the weariness that was creeping up in the flower girl's eyes. If the half-Cetra continued to heal Yuffie, she would be too weak to run, let alone fight; or worse, Aeris could lose consciousness.

"Aeris," Yuffie gently pleaded, placing her right hand over Aeris' that was over her wound. "You need to stop."

"I almost got it," she replied, furrowing her fine brow as the glow brightened, and sweat began to glisten upon her forehead. "I'm almost there."

"Stop, Aeris," Yuffie softly ordered, but when her friend would not take heed to her words, she tried to pull away, but Aeris' hand seemed to be stuck to her healing shoulder as if it was glued to it. "We need to run...now. Don't waste all your strength on me, Aeris."

"I'm not losing another friend," Aeris whispered hoarsely. "I won't loose another friend. I'm almost done. Just...hold still." Fatigue was stealing up behind her hard and fast.

Just then, the sound of air rushing downward was heard and it distracted Aeris' focus as she snapped her head up to find the source of the noise as did Yuffie, soaring up into the sky and hovering above them; black and silver was all they dared to identify before stumbling upon their feet, bolting for their freedom to live. Sephiroth had sprouted his large, black wing, took a hold of his younger brother in his right arm, reluctantly, and tightened the grip of his precious katana before flying the both of them up to the rooftop.

The next moment was a blur as Sephiroth dropped Yazoo and the gunslinger flipped over once before landing gracefully and gently upon the very edge of the building, raising Velvet Nightmare to eye level and firing rapidly upon the two women, barely missing them as they dashed over the short distance of the rooftop. With a scowl upon his face, Yazoo broke into a run, determined for their blood, especially a little ninja's. His aim should have been true with the first bullets, but their evasion and luck were high.

Yuffie and Aeris were a good distance away, but they had to cease their running before falling over the side of the building. Bullets whizzed by their ears, adrenaline pumped their blood, and seconds of valuable time was being wasted as the two tried to resolve the situation before them. Yuffie prepared herself to propel herself across the gap and Aeris lengthened her staff once again, readying herself to launch over to the other building.

A bullet missed Yuffie's side by mere inches once she vaulted off the edge, desisting her breathing momentarily, engrossing herself only in twisting her body and flipping her body over once. A gush of air rushed out of her mouth when she landed in a crouched position, and whipped her head over her shoulder, just as Aeris landed beside her, stumbling upon her own footing a tad. Yuffie spotted Yazoo was still giving chase to them, his eyes bright with intent to only hurt and worse. Sephiroth had landed a while ago; his wing folded upon his back and was gaining quick speed upon them, his long Masamune shone in the dim light given by the cloudy skies.

Yuffie grunted as she looked ahead, they've only a few seconds before they were caught, there must be some way to escape. She turned her head to see Tifa battling with Loz across a different rooftop. The two were in an intense duel, hardly acknowledging how close they were to the edge of the building. Things were getting desperate, Yuffie and Aeris were in the sights of Yazoo's gun, the victims of Masamune, and Tifa was using all her strength to keep Loz's Dual Hound from stunning her.

Yuffie then remembered something; a summoning Materia that they've managed to maintain for two years. They could not sell it, no one would buy it, and it would have drawn unwanted attention to them, but it was destitute. Quickly, the Wutainese woman slipped her hand into her pocket, and pulled out her precious Knights of the Round Table Materia and raised it above her head, unleashing its' majestic power.

As the spirits of the ancient knights thundered above in the grey skies, the remnants of Jenova drew their attention immediately to the new threat of the thirteen knights that descended from the sky, enclosing Yazoo and Sephiroth from the world, and they began unleashing their grisly attacks upon the two. Loz heard the thundering arrival of the thirteen knights and turned his attention toward them, earning Tifa an opening for a hard roundhouse kick to his strong jaw. Unprepared for this move, Loz lost his balance, falling off the building and landed hard in a dumpster in an alley below, cartons, boxes and other trash flew upward from the impact.

"Come on!" Yuffie shouted over the loud clashing of the knights' weapons, grabbing Aeris' right arm and dragged her over where Tifa was, who was beckoning them to hurry on as she managed to open an air duct and slipped inside. Once Yuffie and Aeris reached the small air duct, Yuffie helped Aeris into the small duct before looking over her shoulder, seeing a knight delivering a heavy blow to Yazoo and Sephiroth, and smirked with satisfaction and slipped into the duct, placing the grate over her head to conceal them from their wrath as the last knight delivered one fatal blow to Yazoo and Sephiroth.

"Damn it," Sephiroth swore, rising from his knee and staggered a little from the massive loss of his strength. "I didn't think they would still have them."

His brother said nothing, just a slight sound that rumbled in his throat as he picked himself up and retrieved his gunblade. "She's full of surprises, the little princess," he noted, letting Velvet Nightmare dangle by his left side.

"The lithe girl is a thief after all," Sephiroth muttered. "Speaking of her, where did they go?"

"And where's Loz?" Yazoo inquired, looking about the rooftops.

Sephiroth scoffed. "Knowing him, he probably fell of the roof," he declared, strutting over to the edge where Tifa and Loz were dueling and peered over the edge. "Ah, I was right. He's in the dumpster."

"We'll retrieve him later," Yazoo told his other brother as he continued to scan the area for the three young women who were no where in sight. "Do you think they fled into an alley?"

"Most likely or they've taken refuge in one of the buildings," Sephiroth informed Yazoo.

"Shall we search?" Yazoo questioned.

"Yes, we shall," Sephiroth agreed, sheathing Masamune. "Do you wish to search the alleyway?"

"Let Loz take care of that," Yazoo retorted, tilting his head as he turned his head to his older brother. "I'll set up a post here and alert you if I see them."

Sephiroth shifted his weight onto his right foot. "I see," he said after awhile. "Have it your way, brother." With that curt reply, the ex-general turned on his heel and flew upward before gracefully descended downward into the alley to retrieve Loz, leaving Yazoo alone.

The lone gunslinger turned back around and sauntered over to the edge of the building, looking over the dark, dank, empty street. "Soon, my little princess," he whispered, his Mako eyes glinting with an evilness and a promise of hurt in his soft tone. "I will have you."

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**(A/N) **I know, I know, but hey, I updated! Be happy, and consider yourselves fortunate. The other fics ain't getting updated until Christmas time. -dodges drinks and popcorn- I'm sorry! I'll make it up to ya'll who love the other fics as well. Remnant's Love will have two chaps instead of one. Death Note will unfortunately have one. Year with the Turks will have five or more, that I promise. First Marriage, second Romance(originally First Comes Marriage...) will have three chapters. It was completed, until some jerk deleted it again. This time it was for underrating. Guys out there reading me junk, if I underrate my stuff, just tell me, don't delete me! I work day and night on these fics, please don't make my life any harder than it already is. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must prepare myself for the worst ridicule ever tomorrow...from my family.

God bless you all, and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Yuffie: Wait!

forgiven4ever: What?

Yuffie: How long have you been on this site again?

forgiven4ever: Since last Halloween.

Yazoo: So, you've been here a year and what about Remnant's Love.

forgiven4ever: November 28th. Two days. Wow, we need an anniversary party.

Yuffie: Tell me about it. But here's a cake for your first year of being a member of fanfiction. -presents pumpkin cake-

forgiven4ever: Awwie, it's cute.

Yuffie: Glad you thought so. -shoves cake in 4ever's face-

forgiven4ever: Okay, I deserved that -licks lips- Yum.


	6. Reminisce

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Hey guys! I'm back! I know it's been like nine months, but I finally updated, so this is for all you guys, especially to my two special readers;

_Arashi: _I have not forgotten Nanaki, he is dead as well, I didn't know what ribbon to represent him, but still he is remembered. Great eye, Arashi! You have the makings of a great Beta Reader! I bet you're awesome in writing too. God bless!

_Cold Comp: _I totally agree with you, Cold Comp! It is _disgusting_ for me to even think that. I still hope you'll come back from time to time, because I love your comments. God bless you, Cold Comp, and I hope and pray I will hear from you again.

God bless you all, and I hope you'll enjoy the chap. Comment your opinion and I'll give you cookies!

* * *

_~Reminisce~_

"Tifa," Yuffie hoarsely whispered after a long period of silence, knowing that one of Jenova's spawns was still on the rooftop. "I know we have a lot on our plate already, but this vent is not gonna hold our weight combined."

As if on cue, the metal began to whine and moan from underneath them, resulting in which their hiding place to lower itself, breaking apart, weakening within every second. If they continued to linger here, surely in short time, the last of the AVALANCHE will be captured. The only way to go was down the shaft, which branched off on different floors of the building and ending right in the heart of the edifice, the boiler room. Not only that, the shaft at some places even snaked into the building Tifa, Aeris, and Yuffie previously resided in.

Chewing on her lip as her thoughts processed through her mind, Tifa pondered on what to do. Desperation hung in the air, as well as life or death. Looking over to her two friends, the martial artist sighed, before informing them of the first thing that was on her tongue.

"We go down the shaft, split up, and once we find a way out, we do not look for each other but go to Costa del Sol," Tifa breathed, her lungs still burning from her previous battle with Loz. Never before she had been in a brawl so vigorously. "We met at the back room of the inn in Costa del Sol. The password's 'Avalanche'."

With shallow breathes exchanged, the other two surviving members of AVALANCHE replied to this plan with widened eyes full of fear and worry, and a swift nod to make understanding with the conniver. Hands were taken into others, comforting one another, hopefully giving the courage that will be greatly needed in order to execute this plan. But, in reality, it was a goodbye that could be final to all or one of them. Silent prayers were whispered, common sense was slowly vanishing, and releasing them from the doubt they had for this foolhardy idea. It was Yuffie who was the first to break this silence and the first to dare begin her progress down a passage of the shaft that was nearest to her.

"See you girls later," she chirped in a fake cheerfulness that concealed her anxiety and fear. It seemed that her friends could not tell, and that gave the ninja thief some relief. To let her friends, her last friends let on that she too was frightened, it would dampen their spirits and all hope would diminish, as well as their chance to escape.

Lowering herself down, Yuffie hung by the ledge, using her feet in search of an opening, but there was none. In response to that, Yuffie twisted her lower body, implanting her feet firmly onto the siding of the metal shaft, and braced her back against the other side. Once in this position, the young princess began to "walk" down the shaft, looking down to be sure of her footing.

Things were going smoothly, and Yuffie judged that there was more of a chance in escaping than what she gave credit for. Unfortunately, her judgment was misplaced as was her left foot shifted a mere centimeter at least downward. It was not much, but enough to cause the shinobi to loose her delicate balance and resulted in her fall into the depth of blackness, her exposed skin scraped unpleasantly against the metal, rubbing it raw, as she desperately clawed at anything to regain her previous position.

She was only so fortunate to land upon a large mound of sheets that consisted of mildew, and holes that the moths left in their wake. A small cloud of dust emitted from the sheets in result of Yuffie's landing, giving away the years the sheets had remained in the boiler room for some odd reason or other.

Coughing slightly, Yuffie gathered her surroundings, her violet and significant eyes adjusting to the darkness around her. In the overwhelming darkness, Yuffie could detect the outlines of pipes and the dank walls of the room. Muck and a foul stench of something dead for some time filled her senses. She could not linger in this place, even though it would be the last place the Rulers would search, but she must move and get out of the city of Junon now.

A sound of something rustling in another vent caught her ear and frantically, the shinobi begun her search of a way out, placing her hands upon the slick walls and sought out for a vent. By the time she reached the last wall in the room, she was certain all was lost as she stood upon some boxes which faltered a bit under her weight. Her calloused fingers ran across the sharp metal, cutting deep enough to penetrate the skin and let the thick crimson liquid run down her fingers, gathering on her palm before a small trail trickled down her arm. It did not take very long to thicken and crust.

Seething through her clenched teeth from the pain of the splitting of the skin and the throbbing of her fingers, Yuffie searched her pockets for one of her small shruikens she had so fondly named "butterflies".

"Damn you, where are you?" she hissed, fumbling through the many pockets she bore upon her clothing, staining her clothes with crimson liquid that had not yet crusted upon her hands and arms.

Her fingers suddenly grasped her desired object and swiftly pulled out the small shruiken from her pocket. With erratic breathing, Yuffie fumbled with her nimble fingers as she inserted one of the points of her shruiken in a screw tightly holding the vent up. Squeaking metal screeched unpleasantly in the young shinobi's ears, but nevertheless, she continued her task, desperate to get out of the dark basement.

At the loud sound of the vent covering swinging, dangling from one screw, Yuffie let out a gust of air and pocketed her small weapon before clambering into the vent, laying her body to a parallel position. So, she inched her way forward, using her forearms to drag her body forward, rubbing her stomach raw on the metal frame.

Gritting her teeth, Yuffie pressed on, adrenaline was pumping viciously in her veins and fear was rushing up her throat. There were times when Yuffie was sure her jugular was going to burst as she neared the end of the short metal tunnel. A vent at the end prevented her from completing her escape route, and so, adjusting her body just so, she enforced a powerful kick upon the metal frame, resulting in the metal to bend against their will.

Another kick with a frustrated grunt to accompany it and successfully managed to reveal the opening. Gritting her teeth in victory, the young shinobi immediately scrambled out of the vent, landing hard upon her backside.

"Owww," she whined in a hushed tone, rubbing her sore spot as she rose from the dirty floor, smearing the dirt upon her shorts.

At this time, Yuffie took the time to gather her new surroundings which was vaguely familiar for something at the back of her mind was clawing at her attention, begging to be known, but Yuffie pushed away that urge and replaced it with a desperate need to get out of the dark and forgotten room.

Stumbling past the small towers of cardboard boxes, Yuffie frantically tried to reach the door. Her route was suddenly denied to her when her shoulder connected hard with a box, tipping it over and spilling its contents out in front of her. A cloak of red whispered to the floor, a golden claw clattered to the floor, and a three-barreled gun scraped along the concrete floor, spinning round repeatedly until finally resting two feet away from the shinobi.

A gasp escaped her lips and tears flooded her eyes, remembering as she fell to her knees, and clutching Vincent's cloak to her face. Everything around her was forgotten, her current situation was suddenly unknown to her. As she inhaled the faded scent of gunpowder, mold, and the demon wielder's unique scent, Yuffie sadly smiled, choking on a sob as she recalled the meaning of this room.

This room held some of the effects of their fallen comrades, stored in boxes in the basement for the girls knew that if they did not keep their friends belongings, people would steal them and sell them for mere gil. Some things did not make it to this room, some were stolen, and Cloud's bike Fenir was taken within two weeks of his death.

Wiping her tears upon the tattered cloak, an incident that occurred almost three years prior came to Yuffie's mind. Something she had thought unimportant until now.

* * *

"_Hey, Vinnie?" sixteen year old ninja thief Yuffie Kisaragi called to the stoic man in the tattered blood red cape, metallic boots, metallic gauntlet, long raven hair held back with a red bandana and the blood red eyes the shinobi had grown to love._

"_Yes, Yuffie?" the gunman sighed, bowing his head slightly towards the young woman. Yuffie responded by giggling at his reaction to her pet name for him. But then, she bounced a bit more closely to Vincent Valentine._

"_What's dyin' like?" Yuffie questioned bluntly, causing the much older man to whip his head to her in surprise. "Wow, Vinnie, you do good expressions," she teased sarcastically._

"_I was not expecting that question," Vincent muttered, turning back to see the setting sun and the pink clouds that smeared the harsh circle into a beautiful painting of orange, pink, yellow, and light blue. "Do you plan to kill yourself in the possible future?" he queried._

"_You must be in a good mood today for making crappy jokes, Vin," Yuffie declared, gripping the railing of the airship and hoisting herself up some to make up a small bit of her height. She could have sworn that the demon wielder let a small smirk tug at the corner of his mouth momentarily. "I'm just asking because you and Cloud were the only ones who technically 'died', so to speak," Yuffie told her friend._

"_Then why not ask Cloud?"_

"_He told me to piss off. Actually, it was more like Cid saying; 'f— off kid, he's in no mood to talk, brat'."_

"_Why do you want to know?" Vincent inquired softly, still looking off to the horizon._

_Yuffie shrugged. "I just wanna know," she lied smoothly. "Since you never know what may happen and I would like to know what I might be feelin' if that Sephiroth clone skewers me!"_

_Vincent then looked down at the young teen. "You've seen death, though," he reminded her. "I've heard Cloud and Tifa discussing the Wutai War with ShinRa. They massacred your homeland."_

_Yuffie shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, while you were napping in your coffin, Vince, my homeland was invaded," she admitted. "I remember the guards fighting so hard to keep them from getting into the palace. Mom locked me down below before going up to hold them back. That was the last time I saw her."_

"_I'm sorry," Vincent apologized._

"_It's okay," Yuffie assured. "You didn't kill her. I just always wondered how she felt when she passed on."_

_Vincent then turned to face the small teenager and then held her by her shoulders. "I may not be the best example, Yuffie, but...I can tell you that I felt as though as I was drifting off to sleep."_

"_Who killed you?"_

_He grimaced before answering. "Hojo."_

_Yuffie scoffed. "I wouldn't be feeling like I was about to nap with my enemy before me," she stated and then looked up until her eyes met crimson. "I would feel defeated. That I've let down the ones who were depending on me."_

_The gunner sighed, pulling away. "That as well," he muttered._

"_Do you sometimes wish you stayed dead?"_

"_Yes..."_

"_Well, I don't!" Yuffie proclaimed, putting a hand on her hip. "'Cuz then, I wouldn't have met you." Regaining herself by jumping down from the railing, she went up to Vincent and clamped her hand upon his shoulder. "You're okay, Vinnie," she declared. "You really are."_

* * *

A creak behind Yuffie brought her back into the present. Taking in deep, shuddering breaths, Yuffie lowered the soft crimson cloak as she slowly turned around and gasped at the towering shadow in the doorway. Crimson eyes glowing warmly down at her, his long, raven hair flowed past his shoulders.

It was too good to be true, Yuffie could not believe it; Vincent was there, standing at this very moment in the doorway. Even if it was a dream, a mere fantasy, the young shinobi did not care anymore. The world could be burning up at that very second, and Yuffie would not care. Vincent was there, even though it could be just an apparition.

Tears were welling up in her eyes, Yuffie slowly rose up and let the forgotten cloak whisper to the floor and turned fully to the man before her. For several moments, Yuffie could not breathe and time stopped.

Finally regaining her mobility, Yuffie rushed to the man before her, throwing her arms around Vincent's strong frame, burying her face in his shoulder, smelling the gunpowder she loved from him. She was almost afraid she was going to go right through him like before.

Rolling up on the balls of her feet, Yuffie buried her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. Emotion overtook her and Yuffie softly kissed his neck, again upon his jaw, and finally firmly upon his cheek before pulling away to look upon her friend, her dear, dear friend. In return, Vincent raised his gloved hand to her cheek and slipped his hand through her silky strands of her hair. Yuffie sighed and leaned into the hand that was slowly threading through her hair.

Just then, Vincent's sincere, composed face suddenly changed into pure hatred and before she could react, her trusted companion had fiercely gripped her hair and sharply pulled her down to her knees. As he did this, Yuffie let out a small cry as her scalp burned as well as her knees, but managed to look up at Vincent with tears of betrayal in her eyes. It was then the ninja thief realized that it was an evil trickery as her crimson eyed friend, transformed into her Mako-enhanced green eyed enemy, holding in his free hand a yellow materia Yuffie identified as a Deception Materia which specializes in changing the appearance of the beholder into whatever their prey would identify as a friend or ally.

"Why these tears, little princess?" Yazoo mocked, turning her head in an odd angle so that he may see the right side of her face. Yuffie grimaced from the pain erupting from her neck, but Yazoo paid her no mind as he absently traced her cheek where a fresh tear tracked.

"Sweet memories with your demon wielder?" a simper came with that question, a teasing one at that. Yuffie could not withstand it anymore, and let more tears fall and cried out a soft sob and her silver haired enemy replied with a sinister smile and stroke his finger along her jaw line. "Ah, we cannot have that, can we, little princess?"

At the next moment, Yazoo hurled her aside, causing her to clamber to the floor with a soft gasp. Looking up at him, Yuffie could see the murderous glint in his unique eyes. Two guards were on either side of him, looking down at their newly obtained prisoner with a look in their eyes which made Yuffie cringe inside.

"Take her away," the youngest Ruler simple ordered, with slightest of acknowledgement. As they lunged forward and gruffly took a fierce hold upon Yuffie, the gunslinger momentarily stopped them. "Gentle," he scolded them in a soft tone. "She and her associates are to be treated with special care."

Reluctantly, and with sour faces, they dragged Yuffie away; her feet slipping from time to time from the haste the guards were hauling her. As she passed Yazoo, their eyes met for a split second, his eyes burning with a glow which one might see in a cat when its captured its prey. Her violet eyes burned with hatred and for her enemy, one might seldom see in a woman, save a scorned one.

Before following his guards, Yazoo managed to catch a glimpse of the three-barreled gun that glinted in the dim light. Turning his full attention upon the gun that used to belong to the demon wielder, Yazoo greeted it with a smirk as a mischievous idea was placed into his head, to take the gun known as Cerberus as a trophy, a mere trinket of remembrance of their sweet victory. So, skillfully and fluidly, Yazoo gathered up the gun and let it dangle by his left side as he casually left the basement, treading upon the forgotten cloak as he did so.

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**(A/N)** I'm ALIVE!!! I'm so, so sorry I have practically abandoned you guys. But I decided to update this just before I go to college. Don't you feel special? Poor girls got captured again. What will happen now? Mwahahaha. You guys are awesome for having this on your favorites, having it on alert, and commenting it. You don't know how much it means to me. God bless you all. I shall try to update whenever I get the chance.

_And on a high note for my other Yazfie fiction; the results are in from the Yazfie Writing Contest! A link will be added onto my profile by Thursday, and it will say "Results for Yazfie contest here". God bless you guys, and thank you all so so much for entering!_


	7. Dance

Hello, my loverly fans of End of All Things! I know, I have been rather scarce in the fanfiction world and I had so much to do and so little time in which to do it before I return to college and not update again until Thanksgiving and Christmas. So, I hope you enjoy this filler chapter of sorts. One-sided fluff in scattered throughout so I hope you will revel in the stuff. Again, my apologies for updating so late, but thank you all so much for your support of this fiction. God bless and have a great semester in school or college or life. Lol.

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_~Dance~_

After easing himself swiftly into the buggy, Yazoo let out a soft growl as he slammed the driver's door shut behind him, which alerted him that he shut the door a little too hard by the crackling noise of the glass splitting into several segments, creating a spider web effect on the glass. His mind was unclear and overridden by a convey of emotions.

He was joyous in his victory over the last final resistance against their plan for a new world. However, he was frustrated that the few moments before applying the Deception Materia, Sephiroth managed to contact him with his brilliant plan. This so-called brilliant plan was instead of killing the resistance, their sworn entities; the one-winged angel suggested they keep them alive. Sephiroth did not even have to finish his suggestion for Yazoo to translate the real reason for the enemies' lives to be spared. The ex-General of SOLDIER, the hero, the Chosen One, wanted the remaining AVALANCHE members for his own pleasure.

Yazoo let out another disgusted sound at the mere thought of this. Typical of Sephiroth to want to mingle with these humans. And knowing this, Yazoo also knew that their mother would agree with Sephiroth even encourage him. Yazoo wanted his own revenge upon the last members of AVALANCHE, especially the shinobi.

The thought of his little princess made Yazoo think back upon the events that occurred not too long ago and pondered on them. What was that emotion in her eyes when she first saw him as her lover? They were wide and filled with shock, but there was something else that the remnant could not describe. As he thought of that, Yazoo let his right hand linger up to his neck and fingered his jaw line where Yuffie had kissed him. The kisses were soft and unrushed, unlike other kisses he had experienced. It was new to him.

Hearing the doors opening, Yazoo quickly withdrew his hand from his face and pretended to be interesting in the craftsmanship of Cerberus which he had already done several minutes ago. Loz entered through the driver's side of the door, noticing the cracked window, and Sephiroth effortlessly came in the passenger side, resulting in Yazoo being between his two older brothers. Once the two brothers settled in and closed the doors, Loz pulled out the key and turned on the ignition.

As the engine roared to life, Yazoo averted his eyes towards the buggy to the right of their vehicle, the one that contained his little shinobi. A small smirk etched upon his lips as he watched the other buggy copied the actions of their vehicle. That smirk suddenly disappeared once he took in his older brother's appearance.

Sephiroth had propped his chin upon his right fist, his elbow resting on the door. His face was turned away from Yazoo, but the gunslinger could see the faint reflection from the window. Sephiroth was focused on the vehicle to their right as well, his Mako eyes burning intensely with desire.

Yazoo unintentionally gripped his newly acquired prize tightly, his Mako eyes narrowed upon his older brother.

"Something on your mind, brother?" Sephiroth's suave voice almost made Yazoo jump from the sudden query for he had not perceived that his older brother had caught the gunslinger's glare directed towards him.

"Nothing at all," Yazoo lied smoothly, his teeth clenching which betrayed his true thoughts.

"Come now," Sephiroth lightly scolded with a lighthearted chuckle, turning his head to Yazoo. "Something is preying on your mind."

"It does not concern you," Yazoo snapped, turning his eyes away to break away that murderous glare his older brother possessed.

A taunting laugh was his reply. "Liar."

The sound of this accusation made the gunslinger's blood boil in rage. Even though his thoughts were focused on the one-winged angel, Yazoo had no desire for Sephiroth to use this little tidbit against him in the nearby future. After processing the possibilities on how to deal with the situation at hand, Yazoo whipped his head to face his brother's challenging glare, his own eyes burning with intensity.

"Why not end their lives, Sephiroth?" he demanded. "They are enemies of Mother, and you want them alive?"

Sephiroth let out another soft chuckle, slightly shaking his head. "Dear brother, you are so naïve. Can you not see what is so plainly in front of you?"

Yazoo blinked with slight confusion which gave away his weakness to Sephiroth who in turned shook lightly in mirth again. Yazoo in return let out a low, frustrated growl. Sephiroth had caught him in a vulnerable moment. No one should see his vulnerability, not even Mother lest of all Sephiroth, the one who would tauntingly remind him of these moments in the future.

"Death is what they want," Sephiroth told him sourly, narrowing his eyes at Yazoo. "Why give it to them? Why just give them a few days of torture, only to relieve them soon after that. It would be rather fruitless."

"That is not the reason you want them alive at all, Sephiroth," Yazoo snapped, boldly returning the glare he was receiving from the one-winged angel. "You wanted them for your own pleasure." He had cast the gauntlet, knowing that Sephiroth would most likely retort in constricting Yazoo of oxygen and nearly breaking his neck. Yazoo would not care nor even resist for it would be a sign of vulnerability from the great Sephiroth.

Instead of looking aggravation like Yazoo had predicted, the oldest of the three leaned back comfortably in his seat and smirked in triumph.

"That might have an element in the situation," Sephiroth coolly answered, his wicked smirk broadening. Sephiroth situated himself in his seat and looked out the window again, observing the other buggy.

Neither brother noticed Loz, who had remained quiet during the discussion, tightened his grip on the steering wheel or his eyes which were sterner than before.

Loz couldn't agree more with Yazoo, but he could not blame Sephiroth as well. If it was up to Loz, he would have gladly end the three girls' lives, but he would have been tempted to keep at least one of them alive for his own pleasure like his older brother. The one he would have kept alive was the barmaid, Cloud's lover, Tifa Lockhart. He had admired her for a while now, ever since the first day they met.

It was not her appearance that made Loz grow a sort of admiration for her, even though her countenance and her figure were very pleasing to his eyes. No, it was the martial artist's hands and how she used them. He remembered how she eased her slender hands into her rough black leather gloves and flexed them so that they were situated comfortably in the thick material. He remembered those exact same hands delivering almost jaw-breaking punches and blocking his own attacks. The way she moved, relying on those hands as well as her feet.

Their battle was like a dance and how they danced together so swiftly and they moved together beautifully. And the climax of that dance was when Loz had grabbed her right foot and hurled her to the other side of the building in an attempt to smash her through that supporting wall. She had surprised him by managing to land on the wall in such a way to prevent her from going through. That look of determination on her beautiful face that was smudged with grime and dirt and the yellow and white petals had showered her with praise and caressed that face.

Loz let that moment be his ruin for she had distracted him when she had defied gravity and launched from the wall, her right hand stretched out for him. That hand had managed a tight grip on his throat, a slender hand but such a strong one, and dragged him down the aisle in such great speed before throwing him up into the air. Stunned, he did not even see her jumping up into the air in pursuit of him but he did feel that slender hand wrap around his throat again and with such force threw him down upon the pews.

Their dance was over for the moment and Loz remained motionless, hidden beneath the rubble, relaying his opponent's beautiful movement of her hands. Those hands would be the downfall of him. Then Yazoo had to call him and ruin that recollection that would haunt his dreams in the future. Loz had to get out of that building fast, but not without granting his opponent an encore of their dance.

Strands of her hair had tickled his left cheek and his neck when he had teleported right next to her. Her hair smelled sweet, not that flowery smell he loathed but a smell from a certain fruit and decided at that moment it was his favorite smell.

She seemed weightless when he pinned her up against the pillar before charging her another dosage of an intense shock from Dual Hound. She never screamed for mercy, only small winces and soft cries from the pain coursing her body. He had straddled himself over her and grasped her black top to bring her closer to him as Loz prepared to deliver the final blow but something stopped him.

Her head was tilted back, her eyes half-lidded, her lips partially opened in a relaxed state, and her hands dangled with no life in them, almost brushing the ruined flowers beneath them. Her hands gave no sign of resistance, no reproach, and gave no sign of suddenly coming back to life and throwing him off. Loz wanted to see those hands move again, he wanted her to fight with him again, and he had no desire to take her life.

Deactivating his Dual Hound, Loz had eased his left arm around the breadth of her small shoulders and placed her gently upon the bed of the destroyed flowers. Then, taking her right hand into his own hands, Loz had removed her glove and repeated the same with the left hand. After removing her left glove, Loz let his fingers gingerly touch one of the very same hands that haunted him. His own gloves were preventing him to feel that slender hand.

He raised his left hand to his mouth and bit the tip of his middle finger, collected the leather material in his mouth and relieved his hand of the thick leather. Now free of the restricting gloves, Loz once again let his fingers dance upon the contours of her hand. It was slick from the sweat, and though her hand was coarse, revealing hard work in her life, it was still softer then his own hand.

Loz collected his glove and covered his white abrasive hand before gathering her small leather gloves and shoved them into his front pocket as he left her, taking the case of materia he had found in the church. He later that night pulled them out while his other brothers slept and inhaled their scent. The strong scent of leather was undeniable but it was laced with another scent of sweat, her sweat. The tang of that sweat with the underlying scent that was unique of her.

He kept those gloves since that fateful day, hidden in a drawer of his nightstand. No one knew of his secret treasure.

Today though, it was what he had been waiting for since he first fought Tifa. His heart jumpstarted when he spotted her on the rooftops, jumping from building to building, her powerful legs in perfect position, and those hands of hers balled up into tight fists. Loz had to fight her again and began to pursue her, after telling Hiichiro to alert his brothers that he had found Tifa.

He knew he had a feral grin on his face when he had caught up with her. Loz had managed to pounce on her, but she retaliated by managed to roll on top of him with her back to his broad chest and threw her head back, connecting the back of her skull to his nose. He had released her out of reflex and their second dance began.

Loz noticed she had improved as he came with flurries of punches. When she had an opening, Tifa wrapped her slender right hand around his left wrist and hurled him until he was almost directly behind her. She then shoved her right elbow into his face, stunning him and whipped around to face him and unleashed a flurry of punches to his lower abdomen, crippling him momentarily.

At that moment, Loz realized he had to get more serious about this dance. He could have easily defeated her if he had switched to his teleporting technique, but he wanted this dance to be more personal than the last one.

Her movement almost bewitched him again as she twirled around, preparing a hard kick to his jaw. This time he stopped the temptation and managed to block her kick with his right arm and closed the distance between them by delivering a hard punch to her taut stomach.

This battle, this dance continued in that vein for several minutes until Yuffie unleashed the Knights of the Round Table summon. That was when Tifa delivered the damaging kick to his jaw and caused him to loose balance and fall off the roof.

Loz would always remember Sephiroth's disgusted look when the oldest of the trio found Loz in the dumpster, but he did not care. All that mattered was finding Tifa. Sephiroth had lectured Loz about his clumsiness in a simple battle, but the harsh words did not stay with Loz. Many thoughts were going through his head at that moment, and they were more important than hearing Sephiroth's lecture he was bound to hear again in the not so distant future.

Numbing apologizing to Sephiroth, Loz had begun to rummage through his mind the possibilities of Tifa's whereabouts. It was the building he had just fallen off of, the building where they had initially found the girls, or the building that was just ahead of him. Out of all the buildings, it made sense to Loz that the remaining members of AVALANCHE would try to get away from their present location and farther away from their residence.

"I'm going to check that building up ahead," Loz announced, walking in the said direction as he recharged his Dual Hound. "You can return to their house or stay here."

"I'll join you," Sephiroth had told him in a brusque manner as he unsheathed his deadly Masamune and held it stiffly by his left side. "Don't want to find you in the garbage again, brother, possibly dead."

Instinctively, Loz had gritted his teeth, but bit his lower lip to refrain from speaking his hidden outbursts. Instead he followed Sephiroth like the loyal younger brother he was and the two entered the building cautiously.

The building itself was worn from the lack of maintenance and was on the brink of collapsing in some places. Stairs led up to the upper floors and another small stairwell revealed a passageway to the basement. The area Loz and Sephiroth were standing after upon entering the small frontal doorway was very spacious, considering there was no furniture save several bottles of cheap beer and some worn boxes.

Sephiroth had informed Loz that he would check the upper floors and took his leave, tightening the grip of his prized possession, promising Masamune the blood of the flower girl. Once he had disappeared to the second floor, Loz began to search the main floor on his own, his left arm tensed in preparation of the chance of an ambush. If Tifa was nearby Loz had to keep up his guard as he learned harshly from the first time he met her. He did not expect her to move so swiftly as he did when he had managed out of luck to block that first punch she had launched at him.

The area Loz was scouting was clear and he had proceeded to move into the kitchen when he heard it. The sound of metal creaking and whining from above which caused him to look up to find a small vent in the ceiling directly above him. The ceiling started to sag, the sound of metal whining and groaning lengthened and suddenly a loud screech was heard as part of the ceiling collapsed where Loz was standing. Loz did not suffer the impact and had taken refuge in the adjoining room whilst the dust settled to reveal two of the remaining AVALANCHE members. The woman in the pink dress was Aeris, the Cetra who had nearly foiled Mother's chance of complete revival and the other rose from the debris, shaking off the dust and the bits of splintered wood.

"Tifa, are you all right?" Aeris had inquired her friend, placing a comforting hand on Tifa's right shoulder.

"Yes," Tifa managed to hoarsely reply, coughing on the settling dust. "We need to run. I know they're somewhere in this building."

"Tifa! You're bleeding!"

This was true. Crimson liquid flowed freely down her right arm, the stronger of her arms. Her fighting skills had temporarily weakened from her wounds and Loz was going to take advantage of that before Sephiroth came upon the two women, knowing that Sephiroth would want to fight Tifa, leaving Loz to fight Aeris. He was determined to have another battle with Tifa.

A feral grin etched his lips as Loz waited for the right moment to charge at the two women. He was waiting for Tifa to face his general direction. Their final battle would be too short if he ambushed her when her back was turned. As he waited he took in her form. She looked as though she had lost some weight, but at the same time she looked like she gained some muscle especially in her legs. It was no wonder though; she had improved over the years.

However, while Loz was waiting for the opportune moment to attack Tifa, the two women seemed to have sense another presence and immediately turned towards the staircase where Sephiroth was waiting for them at the top of the first staircase, looking down at the two women with malice laced in his eyes. Loz mentally swore and he grinded his teeth as Sephiroth smirked at the two women. The situation was getting out of his control and Sephiroth would immediately kill Tifa before Loz had the chance to fight her. If he did not move quickly, Sephiroth would take his chance from him.

As Sephiroth made his descent, tightening the grip of his singing Masamune, Loz racked his brain to figure out how to intercept this upcoming battle. He did not want Sephiroth to fight Tifa, she was his to battle not Sephiroth's.

Just as Sephiroth reached the last step, Loz made his move. Teleporting, Loz rushed to Tifa who had only a moment to react but failed to do so. His right arm wrapped tight around her round shoulders. His left hand thrust hard into her side, sending her a discharge from his Dual Hound. Her outcry allowed him to grin even wider.

As she lost her balance and began to fall, Loz caught a whiff of her sweet scent. With the desire to inhale that intoxicating scent once more, Loz lowered his left arm to catch her in her stomach. Her head nearly came in contact with his right shoulder and that sweet smell of fruit invaded his senses.

A chuckle escaped his lips as he let loose another discharge from his Dual Hound, sending Tifa flying across the room and making contact with the opposite wall. Loz was just about to pounce on Tifa once again, when he noticed at the corner of his eye Sephiroth preparing to launch himself at Tifa to finish her off. Loz knew that Sephiroth would reach Tifa before Loz ever had a chance. This dance was ending too soon.

The sudden sound of metal screeching against metal was delightful to Loz's ears as they told him that the other women Aeris had joined the battle and chose Sephiroth as her opponent. Aeris had managed to misdirect Masamune's primary direction and brought up her defense when Sephiroth delivered a strike upon her.

Tifa was recovering from her assault fast and managed to knock Loz's Dual Hound out of the way and delivered a hard punch with her elbow to his nose. Loz's head threw back from the impact, but recovered quickly in order to grab her left wrist which was aiming for his stomach. He spun her around, slamming Tifa's body into the wall causing the drywall to splinter and crack from the impact. Tifa grunted from the harsh impact and in a haze reached for Loz's neck to push him away. It was useless though, Loz had a strong grip on her right shoulder and her left wrist, preventing her to make an overpowering attack.

Aeris was not fairing any better. True, she had blocked a devastating strike, but Sephiroth had quicker reflexes than her and her attacks were weak if anything she discovered when she managed to strike him a few times with her staff. Aeris could feel a bead of sweat sliding down the back of her neck as she held back another powerful blow from Sephiroth. Masamune was just shy of lightly kissing her temple. She tried not to look at Sephiroth's menacing eyes, knowing that her courage would waver if she did. Her knees had begun to tremble from the long agonizing minute the knees were forced to bend. Aeris arched her back further to try holding Sephiroth away longer. This technique was not working in her favor.

"You're trembling, my dear," Sephiroth noted with a cruel smirk, pressing himself closer to Aeris. Masamune nicked her fine brow and a bead of blood began to trace her face.

Gritting her teeth, Aeris pushed against Masamune and spun around on her right foot and thrust her staff into Sephiroth, but he used Masamune to push Aeris's staff out of danger. This caused her to fall toward Sephiroth who grasped her tightly by the throat and then pushed her away, causing her to trip over some debris. Aeris fell upon the floor; her staff skittered across the room and out of her reach. Sephiroth stood above her, his Masamune poised for the final blow.

Aeris controlled her breathing and faced her executioner with a bold look as he prepared to end her life. Death did not frighten her; it did not frighten any of them for they knew death would come to them sooner or later. Aeris would welcome the blade with no resistance. But the determination of her face would be their downfall for it had revealed to Sephiroth their secret.

When he was about to bring down his Masamune, Sephiroth looked upon Aeris's face and that caused him to cease his final blow. She was expecting his blade, her eyes said it all. Her eyes were not pleading for mercy like Sephiroth wanted her to, but instead encouraged him to deliver that final blow. Part of him wanted to end her life, but another part of him questioned why he should end her life if she craved for her demise.

"Loz," he called out, his Masamune still directed at Aeris in a threatening manner.

Loz had pinned Tifa to the floor and had straddled her waist. His right hand was wrapped around her throat, and his left was about to discharge the fatal blow. Loz was a little saddened that their final battle was not as long as he had hoped, but he had his last dance with her and that was enough. He had frozen immediately when Sephiroth called out his name.

"Help me take these two to the buggy," Sephiroth ordered, sheathing Masamune and grabbed Aeris's right arm, yanking her up forcibly.

Loz had not moved. "We're not killing them?" he asked innocently, trying to hide his lace of hope. If Tifa was not to be killed yet, Loz would get another chance to battle with her.

"Not yet," Sephiroth bitterly informed him as he dragged Aeris out of the building.

As he watched Sephiroth pull Aeris, Loz let a grin etched his lips and looked down at the woman beneath him. Her wine eyes glaring at him with intensity, her slender gloved hands were pressed against his chest, trying to keep him away, and her powerful legs were flailing about, trying to kick Loz's shins. Loz only grinned at her attempts before taking both her hands in his right hand and pulled her up to her knees. Then Loz lowered his head to her left side and his shoulder made contact with her stomach which allowed him to hold her securely over his shoulder as he stood up, his left arm wrapped around her long, powerful legs which were kicking him furiously as well as her hands.

Her resistance hardly fazed Loz as he carried her out of the building. He only responded by gripping her legs tighter, his index finger absentmindedly stroking the small area of her outer left thigh just below her leather shorts that had hiked up when he placed her on his shoulder. Tifa did not notice the soft touch Loz just gave her and proceeded to kick and punch Loz as hard as she could.

Once he reached the buggy which was available for the three women's transportation, he did not throw her into the back of the buggy like Sephiroth had done with Aeris. Instead, while Sephiroth went away from the commotion in order to call Yazoo to inform him of the new plans, Loz had eased Tifa gently into the buggy and ordered one of the soldiers to retrieve some rope. He could have easily cast immobilization on her like Sephiroth had done with Aeris, but where was the fun in that?

Tifa continued to struggle in his grasp as he waited for the rope, but he loved this continuous hostility she portrayed towards him. Loz managed to keep his iron grip upon her until the soldiers returned with the required item. He knew he could not tie her by himself, and if he let the soldiers hold her down while he tied her, she was sure to escape. So, with the other options weighed, Loz ordered the soldier who delivered the rope to begin tying Tifa's hands and feet while Loz still maintained his grasp upon the woman.

When her feet were at last restrained with the rope, Loz released his grip upon her ankles, only to aid his other hand which was still clamped around Tifa's wrists. Tifa continued to struggle and grit her teeth, avoiding eye contact with Loz who looked at her face unwavering even when the soldier had finished tying Tifa's wrists. Again, Tifa began to struggle and Loz was once again unfazed by it. She finally gave up and let out a shuddering breath as the realization of their battle against Jenova and her sons was over and they had lost crept at last in her mind. Marlene and Denzel was now on the forefront of her brain and she barely observed Loz gently taking her black leather gloves and thrust them into his left pocket before departing the buggy and slamming the doors shut.

"Aeris," Tifa called out into the darkness, making her body fall upon the floor of the buggy. "Aeris?" The barmaid used her elbows and knees to make her journey in the direction where she last saw Aeris. Thinking she might have crawled in the wrong direction, Tifa's elbows landed upon Aeris's legs.

"Aeris!" Tifa cried out, blindly trying to find the said woman's head. Once her tied hands touched Aeris's silky hair, Tifa lifted Aeris's head and placed it gently upon her lap. Her tied hands blindly stroke her messy plait, sometimes lingering on Aeris's cheek and that was when Tifa felt the wetness of the tears from Aeris's face.

"We failed."

* * *

**(A/N)** Hell to write, but it was fun. I did get lazy a bit in the last bit so please forgive me but I have college coming up hard and fast and the plot bunny abandoned me at the last minute and I've been sick with a nasty cough and mucus and…ick. But, hey! Nine pages worth of chapter so be happy! Or sad, or frustrated with yet another cliff hanger of sorts; whatever you feel I would like to know. Oh, by the way, if I had not responded to your comments it's because my college had banned fanfiction so I had a block during the school year and during the summer we had major internet issues so to all who commented before; I do read them! They really make me warm and fuzzy! You guys are super, fantastically AWESOME! See ya'll Thanksgiving! Mwah!


	8. Distraction

_Distraction_

A breath shuddered past the ninja's lips as she hugged herself tightly in the dark buggy. The immobilize spell had worn off an hour ago before she and Aeris freed Tifa from her binds. Now the three women sat in the darkness with silence hanging in the air as they waited for the doors to open and for the soldiers to drag them out, only to escort them to their new permanent dungeon. Already the three women had been residing in the back of the buggy for the past six hours with no hope of being replenished. Another jolt occurred from the buggy unexpectedly suffered a sudden bump on the road, if they were even on a road.

No words were spoken among the women for they saw no need, they knew what was on each other's mind. They did not mind the torturous death they would most likely face in a few hours, they knew it was bound to come sooner or later, but they had kept hope for Denzel and Marlene to survive these dark times. With no knowledge of her children's whereabouts and knowing she would never rendezvous with them at Costa de Sol, Tifa let silent tears stream down her face. Yuffie and Aeris huddled closer to their martial artist friend, holding each other close and shared their tears with her. There was no use for comforting words, it was laughable to think about it for there was nothing that could ease their running thoughts and concerns. It was over and that was all there was to it.

The sudden screeching of the doors opening caused the three companions to look up at the source of the sound only to be blinded by the setting sun. Yuffie's eyes were rendered useless for a short time so she used her other senses. The air was sweet-smelling in contrast of the thick condensed smoke the inhabitants of Junon were forced to endure every day. Yuffie recognized the smell of the new area they were in, she had inhaled it most of her life. The place was her old home Wutai, but it was not the same as she remembered it. When her eyes adjusted to the light, she could barely identify her home country for many of the housings from before were gone.

Her adjusted eyesight was blocked by several long shadows of the soldiers who were ordered to escort them to a new area. Yuffie watched them like a predator watches her rivals intrude upon her territory. Tifa had her head slightly bowed, her full attention on the metal flooring of the buggy. Aeris boldly faced them with an emotionless face, her hands clamped together on her lap and her lips moved as she voiced a silent prayer.

The soldier to the far right then immediately lunged for Yuffie, his large gloved hand wrapped around the shinobi's arm quite easily and yanked her to her feet with Yuffie grunting and struggling in resistance the entire time. Another soldier Yuffie did not anticipated in joining had clamped his strong hand around her free arm. Still, the shinobi was persistent in struggling against the soldiers. A third soldier approached with his left gloved hand raised in a special arts position slammed it against the right side of Yuffie's neck, knocking her from her consciousness.

With a shout of anger, Tifa lunged herself at the group of soldiers who constricted her friend. All reasoning had left the martial artist and all that was left was rage. A hard straight left to a soldier's jaw rendered successful as his body slackened and fell to the metal flooring of the buggy, releasing one of Yuffie's arms. Another yell and springing off her left foot, Tifa swung her right leg round and caught another soldier in his gut. She charged at him, rage had blinded her from all other surroundings and tackled the soldier.

A flurry of punches was all she remembered as Tifa screamed in frustration with each punch. She did not see the other soldier behind her, raising his rife to strike her. Aeris had leapt from her spot and jumped onto the soldier's back, causing him to stumble. Yuffie was coming out of her unconscious state and blinked several times trying to adjust her eyes. She saw the other soldiers clambering into the vehicle trying to subdue the situation at hand.

Yuffie jumped to her feet and charged at them, knowing she was weaponless. Throwing all caution to the wind, she approached with her first target. She blocked his attack with the butt of the rifle and managed to wrench the gun away as she whirled herself around the soldier's body. The gun's bayonet glinted momentarily as Yuffie used the gun as a lance and plunged into the man's lower back. A cry of agonizing pain was heard but only faintly through the roaring in Yuffie's ears as she pursued the blood of her next target.

The next soldier was trying to avoid the raging shinobi, taking several steps back and trying to ready his rifle but he was too slow. Yuffie thrust the bayonet into the man's right knee, twirled around and shoved the butt of the gun deep into the man's stomach, causing the soldier to fall back, vulnerable to the next attack. Before the shinobi could deliver the fatal blow to the shocked soldier before her, she felt her joints freeze in place. Yuffie grunted as she tried to move but found it futile.

"Yuffie!" Aeris cried out, still trying to stay on the soldier's back even though he was clawing at her and her hair to pull her off. Finally gaining the upper hand, the soldier managed to grab one of Aeris' arms and threw her off his back. Once he was free from Aeris, he ran to the aid of his fellow soldier who was still suffering jaw-breaking punches from Tifa. As he tried to ambush Tifa, the barmaid had quickly backfired his plan, thrusting her elbow directly behind her and into his shin. With a curse, the soldier crumpled to the ground on his good knee and suffered an uppercut from Tifa, knocking him completely out.

A steady, clapping noise could be heard and the girls focused their attention to the opening. Sephiroth, Yazoo, and Loz stood there and Sephiroth was mockingly applauding them, his unique eyes glinting with malicious intent and a leer upon his lips to match his eyes. Yazoo and Loz stood on either side of the one winged angel. Loz being stoic had crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes resting upon the barmaid still who had paused her next action and was staring at the two Remnants and Sephiroth. Yazoo was staring lazily at the mastered Stop Materia in his right glove with a smirk upon his face for it was he who preformed Stop on Yuffie. Aerith was held at gunpoint by the soldier which Tifa first knocked out, trapped in a corner.

Yuffie, still frozen in her position, grinded her teeth in pure hatred as Sephiroth stepped over to the short shinobi. His gloved hand reached out and traced her jaw line in amusement. Yuffie tried with all her strength to pull away from this crazed ex-general but the damned spell would not permit her to do so. Sephiroth's cool leather gloved hand traced the contours of her neck, making her grunt in disgust. The Calamity's firstborn paid little mind to the princess' reactions and continued to rub the side of his left index finger up and down her long slender neck.

"This one's just as feisty as ever," chuckled Sephiroth, raising his hand to Yuffie's mouth and stroke her lower lip with his thumb. "Don't you think, Yazoo?"

That last, teasing question caused Yuffie to involuntarily shift her gaze to the youngest Remnant who was still standing at the doorway of the buggy. Yuffie had never seen such rage in someone's eyes before. The small glass materia ball in his hand was on the verge of breaking for his grip had suddenly grown tighter than necessary.

Sephiroth was toying with him and Yazoo knew it. The one-winged angel was trying to invoke emotions of jealousy for a mere human, their own enemy. True, Yazoo wanted to be the one to break her and end her life by his own hands, but if the end result is her removal of this world so be it. However, Yazoo did play a thought in his head, a forbidden one he often drove away. The shinobi crying and pleading him to stop as he defiled her, possessed her, and owned her. What pleasure that would bring him to have the shinobi in his possession and to take her whenever and however he wanted her. A small ghost of a leer crept upon his thin lips.

Yazoo had let his mind eye blind him momentarily as Tifa took her chance of jumping to her feet and rush at the one-winged angel, whose back was to her. As the martial artist poised herself for a powerful kick to initiate a preemptive strike Yazoo snapped out of his reverie when he heard her let out a frustrated yell. Only a split moment was available to him and his reflective actions reacted before his brain, casting Stop upon Tifa before her foot connected to the back of Sephiroth's head.

Sephiroth let an amused sound escape his throat as he turned his attention to Tifa, unfazed that he was nearly a victim to a preemptive strike. He approached the martial artist, standing so close to her form Tifa grunted in anger and narrowed her eyes at the one-winged angel. Her heart flipped and her breathing became labored as Sephiroth boldly reached out his left hand in grazed his fingertips ever so slightly on her right cheek, trailing down the smooth column of her neck and stopped momentarily at her shoulder.

"Remember the pain I gave you then?" he asked in a teasing, mocking low voice as his fingers traced the old wound he gave her long ago. Shamelessly, Sephiroth's fingers traced over the contours of Tifa's curves where Masamune has caressed her before, cupping his gloved hand on her left hip as he stepped even closer to Tifa, bringing his lips to her ear as he bowed his head to her. "I can do much worse," he promised bitterly.

Loz unintentionally grinded his teeth and tightened his knuckles, making the leather squeak and the bones crack ever so lightly. Fortunate for him, Sephiroth did not perceive Loz's reactions but the same could not be said for Yazoo. The gunslinger's interest peaked at the soft sound of Loz's bones cracking in protest. Yazoo dared to take a glance at his older brother's facial expression and could not believe what he was seeing. Loz was furious at the actions taken before him and was using all his strength to resist temptation to strike against his brother. All of this for a human, Yazoo thought with disgust.

Aerith had taken a daring risk at this point and lunged toward the one-winged angel. However, as she ran towards him, Sephiroth gave her a sinister smirk and without much warning, Aerith was tackled by one of the soldiers Tifa had knocked out earlier. The soldier successfully pinned the flower girl down on the metal flooring of the buggy. Aerith continued to struggle though it was futile. Tears marked her cheekbones with salty wet trails as she glared at the one-winged angel.

Sephiroth walked over to her and stood before her sprawled body with a curious look upon his features. "Why?" he questioned with some humor laced in his tone. Aerith grunted and dared to face him. "You have failed your quest long before this day, so why do you persist in struggling?"

The flower girl turned away from his deadly, haunting gaze, refusing to answer. Sephiroth laughed at this reaction and then ordered the soldiers who were regaining their consciousness and were not seriously hurt to take the three women away and to retrieve a healer for the wounded soldier. As they were hauled away, Yuffie and Tifa were mostly carried away due to the Stop spell, Sephiroth approached Yazoo.

"A close call, brother," Sephiroth confronted, reminding the gunslinger of the barmaid's surprise attack.

Yazoo casually tilted his head, challenging his brother's accusation. "You have boasted before no one could take a initiative strike against you. I merely assumed you had it under control, dear brother."

Sephiroth narrowed his unique eyes at the gunslinger. "I dare to say you yourself were not in your present mind at that time, Yazoo. The Wutain is being a distraction to you?"

"You assume too much," Yazoo retorted, turning on his heel and left Loz and Sephiroth and headed to the main house. "We should inform Mother of our new guests."

"Why have my sons failed me in completing a most simple task that was practically handed to them?" Jenova demanded, her voice laced with a poisonous tone. She was lingering in the sitting room when her sons found her, interrupting her deep thoughts. Her red eye glared at her sons, her foolish sons, hoping to make them uncomfortable. She succeeded her mission on the younger two of the trio, but Sephiroth would not succumb.

"Mother," Sephiroth began to speak. "There-"

"Stay your excuses!" Jenova snapped, bolting up from the chair. Her voice made the other two slightly flinch at the loud volume, but Sephiroth let out a soft sigh and tilted his head to the side, patiently waiting for Jenova to continue. "Why are they still alive?" she shouted, her red eye narrowing on her sons. "Why!" she demanded once more when her question was not answered.

"Sephiroth was persistent," Yazoo answered in an irritated tone of voice, shifting his gaze to his eldest brother. That bitter statement caused Jenova to face Yazoo fully and the gunslinger felt slightly intimidated.

"And why was he persistent, Yazoo?" she asked in a softer, but still threatening, tone. She shifted her weight and waited for his answer. She never liked it when Yazoo or Loz spoke against Sephiroth, even when Sephiroth was in the wrong. "Something you do not improve of?"

"He just wants them for his bed!" Yazoo boldly snapped, his anger clearly ringing in those words. Not much to his surprise, Sephiroth let out an amused noise in his throat instead of counterattacking that statement.

"That would be a nice benefit," Sephiroth admitted with a shrug, before turning his gaze to Yazoo with a glare. "No doubt you want the same with the shinobi."

"Again, brother, you speak before you think," Yazoo retorted with a frown.

"Silence," Jenova ordered before turning to her favorite. "Why are they breathing at this moment, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth met his mother's gaze with a cocky look of his own. "Because we would be giving them what they desire and I have to admit, seeing them in misery is quite exotic to witness." A leer was upon his face and he made no effort to hide it.

Jenova matched Sephiroth's leer with a more sinister smirk, an expression that would usually cause even the strongest willful men to falter. She turned back around to face them and tilted her head slightly. "Well, we must do our best to inflict their misery before their deaths," she informed Sephiroth, broadening her smirk.

"But, Mother," Yazoo interjected suddenly. "You cannot be serious. We are this close to eliminate the final threat against you and you would rather appease Sephiroth's sexual impulses!"

He had gone too far and the gunslinger knew this when his mother turned her head towards him, her red eye piercing through his very soul. The gunslinger shifted uncomfortably and broke eye contact with Jenova, chewing on his tongue and cursed himself for losing control of his frustration. His anger grew when he heard Sephiroth beside him chuckling. The one-winged angel was amused by all this.

"You cannot deny you had thought of bed when you see your shinobi," Sephiroth smirked.

"That is an unjust accusation," Yazoo snapped, sending daggers in the one-winged angel's direction. "Why would I waste time with her in my bed?"

"But you are no stranger of your bed," Jenova reminded the gunslinger bitterly. "You have had more inferior women in the past. Why would this be any different?"

Yazoo bit his lip at this question. True, he had others but it was a distraction he preferred not to have. He never had the same woman and it was sparse when he had a woman in his bed. Also, he would never let them touch him, he was adamant in that. There were times he would have to restrain the woman to prevent the unwanted contact. It was irritating sometimes for Yazoo to participate in activities such as sex.

"You don't wish to share her, is that it?" Jenova questioned in a terse tone.

Yazoo retreated from his thoughts. "No, mother…that is not it. I would not care if thirty men shared her were she any other woman but this shinobi was part of Cloud's group, your enemy."

"An enemy who is part of a fallen resistance," Sephiroth corrected with an exasperated sigh. "They are no threat to us, Mother."

"How can you even predict such a thing?" Yazoo demanded hotly. "They caused us much trouble for those who pose no threat!"

"Silence!" Jenova all but shouted. The two brothers immediately heeded their mother's command and drew further away from each other as if the distance would ease the tension between them. Jenova then approached Yazoo and struck him hard across the face. Yazoo only flinched from the harsh impact.

"You dare go against your brother?" she demanded.

Yazoo dared to speak. "But Mother, he-"

"Enough!" Jenova shouted. "True, Sephiroth may have disobeyed my order, but who was it who found their secret wish of death?" Silence was the only answer to her question. "I thought as much," she muttered, turning on her heel and shaking her head. "Leave me," she ordered her sons harshly. "Your presence is too overwhelming for the moment."

As Jenova retreated to the divan, Yazoo, Loz, and Sephiroth slowly withdrew from the drawing room to leave their mother in peace. Before parting their separate paths to continue whatever tasks they wished to complete before the day ends, Sephiroth threw Yazoo a knowing smirk, a smirk that said many things. This matter was still not settled between the two just yet.

Yazoo made his way back to his room, taking the more scenic route which led the gunslinger the pathway through the courtyard that contained gardens well kept enough to please Yazoo's eye. However, the scene before him also provided him a clear view of the pagoda which used to house the Five Sacred Gods.

The building was a monument to the people and it was soon stripped of its title and was used for torture and confinement. Each level represented the harshness of the torture and the fifth level of the building was used for executions viewed personally by Jenova and her sons. The executions were always different and never the same which pleased Jenova greatly for she never bored of executions. The girls were taken there, on the second level of the pagoda and with that knowledge; Yazoo graced his features with a wicked smirk. Maybe tomorrow he might pay a visit to the dungeons to see his little shinobi.


End file.
